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Chefchaouen

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Chefchaouen is situated in the Rif Mountains, just inland from Tangier and Tetouan. The city was founded in 1471, as a small fortress which still exists to this day, by Moulay Ali Ben Moussa Ben Rached El Alami (a descendant of Ibn Machich and Idris I, and through them, of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) to fight the Portuguese invasions of northern Morocco. Along with the Ghomara tribes of the region, many Moriscos and Jews settled here after the Spanish Reconquista in medieval times.

In 1920, the Spanish seized Chefchaouen to form part of Spanish Morocco. Spanish troops imprisoned Abd el-Krim in the kasbah from 1916 to 1917, after he talked with the German consul Dr. Walter Zechlin (1879–1962). (After defeating him with the help of the French, Abd el-Krim was deported to Réunion in 1926.) Spain returned the city after the independence of Morocco in 1956.

Chefchaouen or Chaouen, as it is often called by Moroccans, is a popular tourist destination because of its proximity to Tangier and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. The name refers to the shape of the mountain tops above the town, that look like the two horns (chaoua) of a goat. "Chef Chaouen" derives from the Berber word for horns, Ichawen. There are approximately two hundred hotels catering to the summer influx of European tourists. One distinction possessed by Chefchaouen is its blue-rinsed houses and buildings.

Chefchaouen tourist attractions and interesting places

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Chefchaouen

Chefchaouen or Chaouen (Arabic: شفشاون/الشاون‎‎, Shafshāwan (pro

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Hotels in Chefchaouen

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Hotel Parador

starting $49

Hotel Dar Mounir

starting $45

Hotel Madrid

starting $41

Lina Ryad & Spa

starting $173

Dar Baibou

starting $52

Casa Hassan

starting $70

Riad Rifandalus

starting $87

Dar Zman

starting $41

Flight tickets to Chefchaouen

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