I have just added a new gallery with images from Morocco taken during a visit some time ago. Follow this link to take a look; Morocco Photo Gallery. Some panorama photos is included as well.
The roundtrip started in Marrakech at the foot of the Atlas mountains. This amazing city with its old medina, the largest souk (traditional market) in Morocco and one of the busiest squares in Africa, Djemaa el Fna, is absolutely worth a visit, and full of photo opportunities.
Next stop was Meknes which was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail. Main sights to visit includes the Bab Mansour gate (built in 1732), Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail (built in 1703) and Dar El Makhzen palace.
Volubilis has the best preserved Roman ruins in this region, and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Unforunately parts of Volubilis was demolished in the 18th century to provide building materials for Moulay Ismail’s palaces in nearby Meknes. Still enough of the site remains to make it a memorable visit.
Close by Volubilis is Moulay Idriss, a pilgrimage site for Muslims. It is named after Moulay Idris I, founder of the Idrisid Dynasty. Moulay can be translated to “Prince” or “Lord”. Idris founded both the city of Moulay Idriss and Fes.
Fes is the second largest city of Morocco, and the cultural and religious center of the country. Fes el Bali, the old, walled city, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Entering the medina here is like moving back to the middle ages.
Rabat is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco
. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg. The first settlement was known as Chellah, in 40 AD taken over by the Romans who named it Sala Colonia. Local rulers eventually took over in 250 AD. Rabat and Salé formed the Republic of Bou Regreg in 1627. Run by Barbary pirates the two cities was used as base ports for launching attacks on shipping, the Republic of Bou Regreg finally collapsed in 1818
.
Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city and also has it’s largest port. It is the economic and business center of Morocco. It’s main sight is maybe the Hassan II Mosque, which has room for 25.000 people inside. The minaret reaches 210 meters in height, and is the tallest in the world. For some of us Casablanca may be best known trough the movie of the same name, with Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart in the main roles. Nothing of the film was actually shot in Casablanca though.
Essaouira is a very charming city on the Atlantic coast. During the 1960’s and 70’s it was home to many celebrities like Jimi Hendrix, Cat Stevens and Leonard Cohen. The Medina of Essaouira is a UNESCO World Heritage Listed city. Several small arts and crafts shops can be found here, like wood carving. The fishing harbour is quite small but still one of the major fishing harbours of Morocco.
The visit to Morocco ended in Agadir, famous for it’s nice beaches and mild winter climate. Main income here is tourism and fisheries. We also explored the area just south of Agadir, like The Souss-Massa National Park.
Morocco is a great place for photographers, with a large variety of nature, people and culture. I would not mind going back to see more!
