Morocco Imperial Tour - Atlas & Sahara Experience 8 Days
Discovery Architecture and History of Morocco
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Morocco Four Season Tour combines spectacular landscapes, rich history, architecture, Kasbah trails, through Imperial cities, Rabat, Fes, Marrakech, Sahara desert dunes, atlas Mountains villages and many outdoor activities camel ride at the sand dunes.
It's not just a simple trip, but a real experience! Private tour by private car with private driver and private local guides. Imperial Cities + Great South + Atlantic Coast, 4/5 * Hotels and Riads of charm / luxury to choose from! Private tour and freely with whom you want, when you want without time or group constraint. |
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ITINERARY:
Go in the footsteps of the Sultans in the imperial cities enjoying the best moments of your life under the moon and stars in southern Morocco and do yourself well with massages and treatments well being with argan oil.
-DAY 1: CASABLANCA 30km.
Arrive at Mohamed V airport in Casablanca, we are waiting for you to welcome you and head to the Casablanca city Visit the economic capital of Morocco, the main market, the district of Habbous, and the interior of the mosque Hassan II, assistance and transfer to the Hotel ,
Dinner and Overnight at Hotel.
Meals included :
- DAY 2: CASABLANCA - RABAT– MEKNES 244km.
After breakfast, visit of Casablanca: the esplanade of the Mosque Hassan II, the cornice, the prefecture and the court then departure for Rabat, classified cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, arrival and visit of Rabat:
the esplanade of the Royal Palace, the Mohammed V mausoleum, the Hassane tower and the Kasbah of the Oudaya
Then departure for Meknes.
Dinner and Overnight At the Riad inside the Medina,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad D’Or or similar
Meals included :
- DAY 3: MEKNES - VOLUBILIS – FEZ 60km.
Visit Meknes classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco: the famous door Bab El Mansour, the door most photographed in Morocco, bab lahdim, the granaries and the mausoleum of Mouly Ismail founder of Meknes.
Heri es-Souani granaries served as stores where the city's food reserves were stored, as well as hay and grain intended to feed the sovereign's twelve thousand horses. The 7 m thick walls and a network of underground pipes maintained a cool and constant temperature inside the reserves. To feed the pipes, norias powered by mules or horses raised the water tanks 40 m deep. According to the chroniclers of the time, Moulay Ismail's obsession with being besieged was at the origin of the excessiveness of the granaries which, once filled, could have ensured the survival of the city for twenty years! No seat actually lasted more than a week under his reign.
After free lunch, departure for volubilis, Roman city classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco before heading to the city of Fez, classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco, arrival, installation to the hotel or riad, accommodation
Dinner and Overnight at Riad El Makan or similar
Meals included :
- DAY 4: FEZ MEDINA SIGHTSEEING.
Day dedicated to the visit of the Fez Medina (Fes El Bali):
It is the largest city in Morocco and the most exciting. It was declared World Heritage by Unesco in 1976. Its labyrinthine lanes lead to a multitude of historical wonders and souks.
It is the historical heart of the city, established on the slopes of a basin crossed by the Wadi Fez: it is the medina, with its medersas Attarine (built between 1323 and 1325) and Bou Anania (built between 1350 and 1357 by the sultan Abu Inane), its Nejjarine fountain, its Moulay Idriss mausoleum and its famous Karaouine mosque.
Souk El Attarine: It is the souk of grocers, it is undoubtedly the most colorful market of Fez.
Nejjarine: This small place takes its name from the cabinetmakers who occupy the stalls of the district. A pretty fountain all zéliges ornate and a carved wooden pediment comes to decorate the place. On this square is an old Foundouk (guest house) now transformed into a museum where are exposed wonders tracing the history of wood in Morocco
The Quaraouiyine Mosque: Founded in 862 by a Muslim Fatima El Fihria from Quairouan. It is the oldest university in the world. Fourteen doors allow access to the interior of the university, which has a valuable library of 30,000 volumes.
Zaouia de Moulay Idriss: Shelter the tomb of Moulay Idriss II founder of Fez. It is the holy place of Fez.
Lunch in an old palace in the medina then return to the Riad, afternoon free time to stroll on youir own,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad El Makan or similar
Meals included :
After breakfast, departure to the South for Midelt via Ifrane and the chain of Middle Atlas. Lunch en route to a local restaurant. Midelt is a step to avoid the 440 km between Fez and the Merzouga dunes in one day, deserved rest around the pool of the hotel. Dinner and accommodation.
Dinner and Overnight at Hotel Tadard or similar
Meals included :
Late after breakfast, departure to Errachidia by the palm grove of the Ziz Valley, crossing the High Atlas via Tizi N'Talghoumt (1907m above sea level). Arrival in Erfoud short visit of fossils factory, highlighting the wide variety of fossils and the many forms they have manufactured them from artistic display objects to major pieces of furniture.
Transfer to Merzouga town, meet the camel leaders and cross the sand dunes enjoying the sunset on the Camels, after a delecieuse dinner at the camp, stay together around the fire under the stars will mark you forever by the silence and the majesty of the desert. Night and dinner in bivouac or under the stars to admire the constellations.
(the nomadic tents are comfortable, equipped with bedding and sheets, with mobile chemical toilets, solar showers and lighting by generators and camp lights)
Walking through the roads and the paths of the desert, one begins to imagine the life of the old caravaneers, who took months, sometimes years, to reach by difficult tracks of the destinations surrounded by mystery. All those who recounted their adventures along these roads, did feel this feeling of infinite space, of absolute solitude, and also the magic of these deserts and mountains that barred the horizon.
Dinner and Overnight at the nomadic tents at the dunes.
Meals included :
- DAY 7: MERZOUGA - RISSANI - TiINGHIR - TODRA GORGES 202km
After breakfast, drive to the city of Tinghir and its wonderful palm grove, then the Todra Gorge.
Crossing lunar landscapes: stones blackened by the burning sun of the South, rockeries, mineral rocks, acacias, palm trees and some oases of greenery lost at the edge of the desert around water points or on the edges of some Streams lost between deep cliffs erosional works millennia, announce the proximity of the desert.
Lunch en route, then arrived at Todra Gorge, visit and walk between cliffs high + 300 m and in the middle of the cliffs there is a river that gives life to the oasis to die on the desert sand
Dinner and Overnight at Day Ayour or similar.
Meals included :
- DAY 8: TODRA GORGES - ROSE VALLEY- OUARZAZAT - AIT BEN HADDOU KASBAH AND KSARS 197km.
After breakfast, departure to Ouarzazate via rose valley where you can make provision of local rose water between Kasbahs (fortified habitat and centralized mud under the authority of a despotic leader who ruled like a wren) and Ksar (collective housing on the road of transhumance, led by alternation by the inhabitants following the rules written by the inhabitants themselves (kind of primary democracy), then continue through Skoura oasis and its 1000 Kasbah. Lunch at the Kasbah in Ouarzazate, visit the kasbahs and Atlas Studio (Moroccan hollywood) and departure for Ksar Ait ben Haddou, classified heritage of Mankind by Unesco and where several films were filmed, visit Ksar, then chick-in at the Riad next to the Kasbah,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Maktoub or similar.
Meals included :
- DAY 9: AIT BEN HADDOU – OUNILA VALLEY – TICHKA PASS – ATLAS MOUNTAINS 250km.
After breakfast, departure for the atlas Mountains,via Ounila valley one of the splendid landscapes which Ouarzazate enjoys. It is near the mountains of the High Atlas. This valley extends from the Ait Benhaddou kasbah to Telouet Kasbah, the palace of the lord of the Atlas. A route through the villages of Tigoussa, Annemiter, Tizgui N'Barda, Tiguert and Tamdakkhte. Throughout the valley pass through captivating landscapes. In the neighborhood Berber villages built in rammed earth. Their architecture and location bear witness to a significant social and political period in the region's history and that of the country. Kasbah villages such as Telouat, Annemiter, Tamdakht and Ait Benhaddou. These fortresses were sites so coveted by the leaders of the dominant tribes. Their strategic location is reminiscent of the old road of caravans that come from the Sahara to the north. The caidales families, the case of Glaoua, controlled the safety of this road which assured them significant financial resources. Afterwards passing via Tichka Pass (2260 m) the highest passage in North Africa. A multitude of picturesque and fascinating landscapes of terraced crops and adobe houses glued to the mountainsides mark the local architecture of the people of the South. Lunch on the way and Arrive to Imlil valley small village on the foot of Mt Toubkal the highest peak in the north Africa,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Meals included :
- DAY 10: ATLAS MOUNTAINS TREK.
After breakfast, start a full day trek around the Berber villages, meet the local people and learn more about their life style (Simple life), visit one of the Berber house at the villages and continue to the waterfalls, Lunch near the river, possible to swiming during the summer time, afternoon relax near the pool enjoying the panoramic views on the Berber villages and the Atlas Peaks covered with snow, Optionnal activities cooking class at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Meals included :
- DAY 11: IMLIL VALLEY - MARRAKECH SIGHTSEEING.
After breakfast, transfer to Marrakech check-in at the Riad before we meet our tour guide and start our full day guided visit of Marrakech historic sites and the gardens,
Marrakesh is distinguished above all for its medina, one of the most beautiful and most exciting ever. In the heart of the medina, Djema el Fna square, nerve center and symbol of the city, brings together a feverish activity, where the traditional and folk tend to join together. All around, encircled by its ramparts, extends the medina, a real labyrinth where one will be happy to get lost.
The enclosure is full of sites to discover: several remarkable monuments such as the Koutoubia Mosque, the Ben Youssef Madrasa or the Bahia Palace, testify to the historical dimension of Marrakech. But the most complete change of scenery takes place in the souks, organized by neighborhoods and professions. An experience in its own right, where colors and scents intermingle. In passing, we try to haggle during its shopping, while avoiding if possible the inevitable catch tourists.
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Challa or similar.
Meals included :
-DAY 12: MARRAKECH - ESSAOUIRA (Mogador) 175km.
After breakfast, departure for the coastal city of Essaouira (Mogador) classified as a cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco.
Paul Claudel who, in The Soulier of Satin (1930), recognizes: "There is only one certain castle which I know, where it is good to be locked up ... it is rather necessary to die than to return the keys ... it's Mogador, in Africa. "
Rocked by the wind that deflects the rays of the sun on the ramparts of the city and mixes the sea spray with the smell of cedar. You will experience strange sensations, the fullness of an unusual happiness and the dizzying vertigo of a dream awake and absolute.
You will see the ramparts contain the Medina: frail walls on which the outbreaks of houses and the fire of the sea are neutralized. You will visit the scala with lined stones made of severe roughness and rigorous geometry in an eternal immobility, where you can caress the satin bronze of the heavy and peaceful canons, unsatisfied with the endless spectacle of the surf.
You will see the fishing port, the boats lined up or staggered or in disorder near the quays, tossed by the residues of the swell that survived the pier ...
You will see the boats leave the port in a hurry, before the sun disappears in a magical conflagration behind the purpurar islands ...
Arrival in Essaouira, visit the fishing port, the Scala, ramparts, souks, craftsmen carving the cedar wood, installation at the hotel evening available. housing.
Overnight at Riad Zahra or similar.
Meals included :
- DAY 13: ESSAOUIRA - SAFI - El JADIDA (Mazagan) – CASABLANCA 370km.
After the breakfast, departure for the city of El Jadida (Mazagan) registered with the cultural heritage of the humanity by Unesco, via the city of Safi, capital of ceramics and sardines, lunch in Safi and continuation towards El Jadida, arrival and visit of the city, the ramparts, the Portuguese cistern, the Church of the Assumption then continuation for Casablanca, arrival and installation at the hotel, accommodation
Overnight at Hotel 4/5*.
Meals included :
- DAY 14: CASABLANCA AIRPORT .
After breakfast, and following the schedule of your flight, transfer to Mohamed V Airport, assistance with check-in And end of our services hoping to see you soon.
Meals included :
Go in the footsteps of the Sultans in the imperial cities enjoying the best moments of your life under the moon and stars in southern Morocco and do yourself well with massages and treatments well being with argan oil.
-DAY 1: CASABLANCA 30km.
Arrive at Mohamed V airport in Casablanca, we are waiting for you to welcome you and head to the Casablanca city Visit the economic capital of Morocco, the main market, the district of Habbous, and the interior of the mosque Hassan II, assistance and transfer to the Hotel ,
Dinner and Overnight at Hotel.
Meals included :
- Dinner
- DAY 2: CASABLANCA - RABAT– MEKNES 244km.
After breakfast, visit of Casablanca: the esplanade of the Mosque Hassan II, the cornice, the prefecture and the court then departure for Rabat, classified cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO, arrival and visit of Rabat:
the esplanade of the Royal Palace, the Mohammed V mausoleum, the Hassane tower and the Kasbah of the Oudaya
Then departure for Meknes.
Dinner and Overnight At the Riad inside the Medina,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad D’Or or similar
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 3: MEKNES - VOLUBILIS – FEZ 60km.
Visit Meknes classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco: the famous door Bab El Mansour, the door most photographed in Morocco, bab lahdim, the granaries and the mausoleum of Mouly Ismail founder of Meknes.
Heri es-Souani granaries served as stores where the city's food reserves were stored, as well as hay and grain intended to feed the sovereign's twelve thousand horses. The 7 m thick walls and a network of underground pipes maintained a cool and constant temperature inside the reserves. To feed the pipes, norias powered by mules or horses raised the water tanks 40 m deep. According to the chroniclers of the time, Moulay Ismail's obsession with being besieged was at the origin of the excessiveness of the granaries which, once filled, could have ensured the survival of the city for twenty years! No seat actually lasted more than a week under his reign.
After free lunch, departure for volubilis, Roman city classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco before heading to the city of Fez, classified cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco, arrival, installation to the hotel or riad, accommodation
Dinner and Overnight at Riad El Makan or similar
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 4: FEZ MEDINA SIGHTSEEING.
Day dedicated to the visit of the Fez Medina (Fes El Bali):
It is the largest city in Morocco and the most exciting. It was declared World Heritage by Unesco in 1976. Its labyrinthine lanes lead to a multitude of historical wonders and souks.
It is the historical heart of the city, established on the slopes of a basin crossed by the Wadi Fez: it is the medina, with its medersas Attarine (built between 1323 and 1325) and Bou Anania (built between 1350 and 1357 by the sultan Abu Inane), its Nejjarine fountain, its Moulay Idriss mausoleum and its famous Karaouine mosque.
Souk El Attarine: It is the souk of grocers, it is undoubtedly the most colorful market of Fez.
Nejjarine: This small place takes its name from the cabinetmakers who occupy the stalls of the district. A pretty fountain all zéliges ornate and a carved wooden pediment comes to decorate the place. On this square is an old Foundouk (guest house) now transformed into a museum where are exposed wonders tracing the history of wood in Morocco
The Quaraouiyine Mosque: Founded in 862 by a Muslim Fatima El Fihria from Quairouan. It is the oldest university in the world. Fourteen doors allow access to the interior of the university, which has a valuable library of 30,000 volumes.
Zaouia de Moulay Idriss: Shelter the tomb of Moulay Idriss II founder of Fez. It is the holy place of Fez.
Lunch in an old palace in the medina then return to the Riad, afternoon free time to stroll on youir own,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad El Makan or similar
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
After breakfast, departure to the South for Midelt via Ifrane and the chain of Middle Atlas. Lunch en route to a local restaurant. Midelt is a step to avoid the 440 km between Fez and the Merzouga dunes in one day, deserved rest around the pool of the hotel. Dinner and accommodation.
Dinner and Overnight at Hotel Tadard or similar
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
Late after breakfast, departure to Errachidia by the palm grove of the Ziz Valley, crossing the High Atlas via Tizi N'Talghoumt (1907m above sea level). Arrival in Erfoud short visit of fossils factory, highlighting the wide variety of fossils and the many forms they have manufactured them from artistic display objects to major pieces of furniture.
Transfer to Merzouga town, meet the camel leaders and cross the sand dunes enjoying the sunset on the Camels, after a delecieuse dinner at the camp, stay together around the fire under the stars will mark you forever by the silence and the majesty of the desert. Night and dinner in bivouac or under the stars to admire the constellations.
(the nomadic tents are comfortable, equipped with bedding and sheets, with mobile chemical toilets, solar showers and lighting by generators and camp lights)
Walking through the roads and the paths of the desert, one begins to imagine the life of the old caravaneers, who took months, sometimes years, to reach by difficult tracks of the destinations surrounded by mystery. All those who recounted their adventures along these roads, did feel this feeling of infinite space, of absolute solitude, and also the magic of these deserts and mountains that barred the horizon.
Dinner and Overnight at the nomadic tents at the dunes.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 7: MERZOUGA - RISSANI - TiINGHIR - TODRA GORGES 202km
After breakfast, drive to the city of Tinghir and its wonderful palm grove, then the Todra Gorge.
Crossing lunar landscapes: stones blackened by the burning sun of the South, rockeries, mineral rocks, acacias, palm trees and some oases of greenery lost at the edge of the desert around water points or on the edges of some Streams lost between deep cliffs erosional works millennia, announce the proximity of the desert.
Lunch en route, then arrived at Todra Gorge, visit and walk between cliffs high + 300 m and in the middle of the cliffs there is a river that gives life to the oasis to die on the desert sand
Dinner and Overnight at Day Ayour or similar.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 8: TODRA GORGES - ROSE VALLEY- OUARZAZAT - AIT BEN HADDOU KASBAH AND KSARS 197km.
After breakfast, departure to Ouarzazate via rose valley where you can make provision of local rose water between Kasbahs (fortified habitat and centralized mud under the authority of a despotic leader who ruled like a wren) and Ksar (collective housing on the road of transhumance, led by alternation by the inhabitants following the rules written by the inhabitants themselves (kind of primary democracy), then continue through Skoura oasis and its 1000 Kasbah. Lunch at the Kasbah in Ouarzazate, visit the kasbahs and Atlas Studio (Moroccan hollywood) and departure for Ksar Ait ben Haddou, classified heritage of Mankind by Unesco and where several films were filmed, visit Ksar, then chick-in at the Riad next to the Kasbah,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Maktoub or similar.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 9: AIT BEN HADDOU – OUNILA VALLEY – TICHKA PASS – ATLAS MOUNTAINS 250km.
After breakfast, departure for the atlas Mountains,via Ounila valley one of the splendid landscapes which Ouarzazate enjoys. It is near the mountains of the High Atlas. This valley extends from the Ait Benhaddou kasbah to Telouet Kasbah, the palace of the lord of the Atlas. A route through the villages of Tigoussa, Annemiter, Tizgui N'Barda, Tiguert and Tamdakkhte. Throughout the valley pass through captivating landscapes. In the neighborhood Berber villages built in rammed earth. Their architecture and location bear witness to a significant social and political period in the region's history and that of the country. Kasbah villages such as Telouat, Annemiter, Tamdakht and Ait Benhaddou. These fortresses were sites so coveted by the leaders of the dominant tribes. Their strategic location is reminiscent of the old road of caravans that come from the Sahara to the north. The caidales families, the case of Glaoua, controlled the safety of this road which assured them significant financial resources. Afterwards passing via Tichka Pass (2260 m) the highest passage in North Africa. A multitude of picturesque and fascinating landscapes of terraced crops and adobe houses glued to the mountainsides mark the local architecture of the people of the South. Lunch on the way and Arrive to Imlil valley small village on the foot of Mt Toubkal the highest peak in the north Africa,
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 10: ATLAS MOUNTAINS TREK.
After breakfast, start a full day trek around the Berber villages, meet the local people and learn more about their life style (Simple life), visit one of the Berber house at the villages and continue to the waterfalls, Lunch near the river, possible to swiming during the summer time, afternoon relax near the pool enjoying the panoramic views on the Berber villages and the Atlas Peaks covered with snow, Optionnal activities cooking class at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Jnane Imlil.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- DAY 11: IMLIL VALLEY - MARRAKECH SIGHTSEEING.
After breakfast, transfer to Marrakech check-in at the Riad before we meet our tour guide and start our full day guided visit of Marrakech historic sites and the gardens,
Marrakesh is distinguished above all for its medina, one of the most beautiful and most exciting ever. In the heart of the medina, Djema el Fna square, nerve center and symbol of the city, brings together a feverish activity, where the traditional and folk tend to join together. All around, encircled by its ramparts, extends the medina, a real labyrinth where one will be happy to get lost.
The enclosure is full of sites to discover: several remarkable monuments such as the Koutoubia Mosque, the Ben Youssef Madrasa or the Bahia Palace, testify to the historical dimension of Marrakech. But the most complete change of scenery takes place in the souks, organized by neighborhoods and professions. An experience in its own right, where colors and scents intermingle. In passing, we try to haggle during its shopping, while avoiding if possible the inevitable catch tourists.
Dinner and Overnight at Riad Challa or similar.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
-DAY 12: MARRAKECH - ESSAOUIRA (Mogador) 175km.
After breakfast, departure for the coastal city of Essaouira (Mogador) classified as a cultural heritage of humanity by Unesco.
Paul Claudel who, in The Soulier of Satin (1930), recognizes: "There is only one certain castle which I know, where it is good to be locked up ... it is rather necessary to die than to return the keys ... it's Mogador, in Africa. "
Rocked by the wind that deflects the rays of the sun on the ramparts of the city and mixes the sea spray with the smell of cedar. You will experience strange sensations, the fullness of an unusual happiness and the dizzying vertigo of a dream awake and absolute.
You will see the ramparts contain the Medina: frail walls on which the outbreaks of houses and the fire of the sea are neutralized. You will visit the scala with lined stones made of severe roughness and rigorous geometry in an eternal immobility, where you can caress the satin bronze of the heavy and peaceful canons, unsatisfied with the endless spectacle of the surf.
You will see the fishing port, the boats lined up or staggered or in disorder near the quays, tossed by the residues of the swell that survived the pier ...
You will see the boats leave the port in a hurry, before the sun disappears in a magical conflagration behind the purpurar islands ...
Arrival in Essaouira, visit the fishing port, the Scala, ramparts, souks, craftsmen carving the cedar wood, installation at the hotel evening available. housing.
Overnight at Riad Zahra or similar.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- DAY 13: ESSAOUIRA - SAFI - El JADIDA (Mazagan) – CASABLANCA 370km.
After the breakfast, departure for the city of El Jadida (Mazagan) registered with the cultural heritage of the humanity by Unesco, via the city of Safi, capital of ceramics and sardines, lunch in Safi and continuation towards El Jadida, arrival and visit of the city, the ramparts, the Portuguese cistern, the Church of the Assumption then continuation for Casablanca, arrival and installation at the hotel, accommodation
Overnight at Hotel 4/5*.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- DAY 14: CASABLANCA AIRPORT .
After breakfast, and following the schedule of your flight, transfer to Mohamed V Airport, assistance with check-in And end of our services hoping to see you soon.
Meals included :
- Breakfast
Mosquée Hassan-II is a mosque located in Casablanca (Morocco). Built partly on the sea, it is a religious and cultural complex, built on nine hectares and includes a prayer room, ablution room, baths, a Koranic school, a library and a museum.
The prayer room can accommodate 25,000 faithful with a total area of 20,000 m2. and the esplanade 80 000 faithful (the complete set can accommodate 105 000 people), is one of the largest mosques in the world, and has a minaret with a height of 200 to 210 m3 according to sources. Craftsmen recruited from all the cities of the kingdom had carved 53,000 m2 of wood and assembled more than 10,000 m2 of zellige (ceramics) for the place of worship.
A large sunroof allows, according to the wishes of King Hassan II, to connect this edifice to the air, considered as one of the four elements beneficial to life, with earth, fire and water.
Designed by the architect Michel Pinseau, it was built by the French group Bouygues, the project management being provided by the Ministry of the Interior, at the time led by Driss Basri.
The Kasbah Oudayas was originally built in the twelfth century by the Almoravids to fight the Berghouatas tribes. It becomes important only with the Almohads, who make it a military camp, a ribat overlooking the mouth of the river Bouregreg and name it Mehdiya. The kasbah serves as a base for Moroccan armies conquering Andalusia, led by the Almohad dynasty.
In 1609, the King of Spain Philip III expelled nearly a million Moriscos, 2,000 immigrants settle in the Kasbah. Newcomers revolt and become independent. It is the birth of the Republic of Bouregreg or Republic of Salé from 1621 to 1647. It is essentially a den of corsairs and pirates, who come to sell their Christian prisoners nearby, the souk El Ghazal.
The Hassan tower is an emblematic tower of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, constituting the minaret of an unfinished twelfth-century mosque.
The Hassan tower is built with a red stone in the style typical of Moroccan palaces and religious buildings. Inside, there are no typical minaret stairs, but ramps allowing the muezzin to reach the summit on horseback for the call to prayer.
With its four facades carved in stone, each with a different ornamentation, the Hassan tower is very similar to the Koutoubia minaret in Marrakech or the Giralda in Seville, Spain.
Near the minaret, one can discover the remains of the unfinished mosque with its ruined walls and nearly 200 columns that had to support the roof of the building. These columns were almost all destroyed during the earthquake of 1755.
Al Quaraouiyine is a university located in Fes, Morocco. According to tradition, its construction began in 859 during the reign of the idrissid dynasty. It is considered the oldest university in the world still active by UNESCO. the Guinness Book of Records, and by several historians.
In the twelfth century, a whole series of names among the greatest will be associated in one way or another with the Quaraouiyine: the great precursors of Sufism, such as Ibn Hrizim, Abou Madyan, Abdeslam Ben Mchich Alami, the Avenpace philosophers and Averroes, the geographer Al Idrissi but also Maimonides and Ibn Khaldun ...
Medersa Bou 'Inania is a school built in Fez, Morocco, between 1350 and 1355 for the sultan Abu' Inan Faris (r 1348 - 59), that is under the Merinid dynasty. It is the only Madrassah in the city with that of the Seffarin to have a minaret, and it also adjoining shops for its financing, as well as large latrines, which testify to its public character. Indeed, the madrassah functioned as well as a school as a Friday mosque.
This madrassah (School) is open to non-Muslims, like most medieval Medersas in Morocco, such as its namesake of Meknes, or the Ben Youssef Madrasah in Marrakech, or those Al 'Attarin or As Saffarin of Fez, and was located in the city, in a district joining the old city and new Merinid constructions. The general plan is irregular, because of the location, but a certain symmetry is respected. The main entrance leads to a large central courtyard, on which open two smaller halls, used for courtyards, and topped with wooden domes. This plan is reminiscent of the two -western plans, born in Iran and used in a contemporary way in Mamluk Egypt.
At the end of the courtyard, there is a prayer room with two naves parallel to the qibla. It has a single mihrab, which protrudes into the wall, and four columns of onyx. This room is covered with two wooden vaults.
Around this main complex unfolds the student cells, accessible from the entrance vestibule via narrow corridors.
Medersa Attarine is an old Koranic school in Fez, Morocco.
This madrassah was built between 1323 and 1325 by the Merinid sultan Abu Sai Othman. It was named after the souk of perfumes and adjoining spices: the souk el-Attarine. It is located near the Quaraouiyine.
Musée du Batha The museum of Batha is a Moroccan ethnographic museum created in Fes in 19151, at the beginning of the French protectorate in Morocco and in the palace of the same name with Hispano-Moorish architecture, previously built under the reign of sultans Moulay Hassan I (1873 -1894) and Moulay Abdelaziz (1894-1908).
Borj Nord is a fort built in 1582 north of Fez, Morocco, on the orders of Sultan Ahmed al-Mansur, whose design is inspired by the architecture of Portuguese fortresses of the sixteenth century. It was one of the largest surveillance posts in the city of Fez and was also used as a cannon factory.
Of square plan, the four corners are equipped with four bastions in the shape of spearheads. The deck is designed to withstand the weight and fire of cannons.
Having served as barracks and then prison in the time of the French Protectorate, the monument houses since 1963 the Museum of Weapons.
Hri Souani: It was in the seventeenth century that Moulay Ismaïl built Hri Souani, huge granaries located 500m from the Royal Palace in Meknes. Divided into several rooms, the largest measuring more than 26 meters long, 10 meters wide and 9 meters high, the building has walls of 4 meters thick, which allows the rooms to keep a constant temperature optimal for the food preservation. Attics are also equipped with wells that once served both the water supply and the maintenance of the Souani basin.
The rooms are now empty but the atmosphere is such that they are used for various events and even sometimes for filming historical films. Indeed, it is here that were shot some scenes of the films "The last temptation of Christ" and "Jesus of Nazareth". We can then imagine the atmosphere of this place full of history and mysteries.
The little Hertz Morocco advice: rent a cheap car to visit the city of Meknes and its former royal granary Hri Souani.
Le mausolée de Moulay Ismaïl is located in Meknes, Morocco. This mosque, built in 1703 by Ahmed Eddahbi, became the mausoleum where Sultan Moulay Ismaïl rests alongside one of his wives and two of his sons. It is one of the few religious monuments in Morocco open to non-Muslims.
La prison de Kara The prison of Kara is a prison built in the eighteenth century under the reign of Sultan Ismail ben Sherif, it is in the city of Meknes, the prison looks like a vast dark underground built like a labyrinth.
Le palais de la Bahia is an old nineteenth-century palace of eight hectares of Moorish / Islamic style, in Marrakesh, Morocco. Currently a museum, it is one of the masterpieces of Moroccan architecture and Islamic art, one of the major monuments of the country's cultural heritage, and one of the main places of tourism in Morocco.
The Koutoubia mosque, or mosque of the booksellers, was started under the Berber dynasty of the Almoravids in 1120, but was deeply reworked from 1162 under the caliph Almohad Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, and became one of the most characteristic buildings of this style. Its name comes from the fact that it was located in the souk of manuscript dealers.
It is organized on a plan in This tradition exists since the construction of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in the ninth century, and is also found in Spain. It is in fact a hypostyle Arab plan, that is to say comprising a large courtyard surrounded by a portico and a prayer room with columns. The naves are perpendicular to the wall of qibla, that of the center being wider; and the span that runs along the wall qibli is also magnified, which forms a T, hence the name. The mihrab is treated as a very deep niche, and the minaret, 77 m high, is of square section, according to the tradition of the Muslim west.
Its 17 naves, supported by numerous white pillars, house one of the largest prayer halls of the Muslim West (90 × 60 m) with a capacity of up to twenty thousand faithful. The building was restored in the spirit of the original monument in 1990, under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture.
The Saadian Tombs of Marrakech in Morocco, date from the time of the great sultan Ahmed al-Mansur Saadi (1578-1603). These tombs were discovered only around 1917, then restored by the service of the Beaux-Arts. They are richly decorated.
The mausoleum houses the bodies of some sixty Saadians, including Al-Mansour, his successors and his family. The building is composed of three rooms. The most prestigious mausoleum is the Hall of Twelve Columns. This hall houses the tomb of Sultan son Ahmed El Mansour. Its cupola is carved with cedar, and the stuccoes are finely worked, the burials are made of Carrara marble from Italy. This mausoleum is a very good example of Hispano-Moorish decorative art.
Outside are the graves of soldiers and servants and a garden of the necropolis.
Medersa Ben Youssef This Koranic school was founded at the beginning of the 14th century by the Moroccan monarch Abu el Hassan. Only with the reign of the Saadians who enlarged and redecorated the building in 1570, Madrasa became the largest Islamic college in the Maghreb. Region. Up to 900 students would have lived there to study law and theology. The monarchy supported them by providing food and lodging - the kitchen, however, had to be done by the students themselves. Madrasa Ben Youssef was transformed into a museum in 1960 and, since its renovation in 1999, it is one of the most popular sites in Marrakech. The bronze doorway at the entrance to the college, adorned with beautiful cedarwood and mosaic carvings, is an impressive masterpiece of its time.
The prayer room can accommodate 25,000 faithful with a total area of 20,000 m2. and the esplanade 80 000 faithful (the complete set can accommodate 105 000 people), is one of the largest mosques in the world, and has a minaret with a height of 200 to 210 m3 according to sources. Craftsmen recruited from all the cities of the kingdom had carved 53,000 m2 of wood and assembled more than 10,000 m2 of zellige (ceramics) for the place of worship.
A large sunroof allows, according to the wishes of King Hassan II, to connect this edifice to the air, considered as one of the four elements beneficial to life, with earth, fire and water.
Designed by the architect Michel Pinseau, it was built by the French group Bouygues, the project management being provided by the Ministry of the Interior, at the time led by Driss Basri.
The Kasbah Oudayas was originally built in the twelfth century by the Almoravids to fight the Berghouatas tribes. It becomes important only with the Almohads, who make it a military camp, a ribat overlooking the mouth of the river Bouregreg and name it Mehdiya. The kasbah serves as a base for Moroccan armies conquering Andalusia, led by the Almohad dynasty.
In 1609, the King of Spain Philip III expelled nearly a million Moriscos, 2,000 immigrants settle in the Kasbah. Newcomers revolt and become independent. It is the birth of the Republic of Bouregreg or Republic of Salé from 1621 to 1647. It is essentially a den of corsairs and pirates, who come to sell their Christian prisoners nearby, the souk El Ghazal.
The Hassan tower is an emblematic tower of Rabat, the capital of Morocco, constituting the minaret of an unfinished twelfth-century mosque.
The Hassan tower is built with a red stone in the style typical of Moroccan palaces and religious buildings. Inside, there are no typical minaret stairs, but ramps allowing the muezzin to reach the summit on horseback for the call to prayer.
With its four facades carved in stone, each with a different ornamentation, the Hassan tower is very similar to the Koutoubia minaret in Marrakech or the Giralda in Seville, Spain.
Near the minaret, one can discover the remains of the unfinished mosque with its ruined walls and nearly 200 columns that had to support the roof of the building. These columns were almost all destroyed during the earthquake of 1755.
Al Quaraouiyine is a university located in Fes, Morocco. According to tradition, its construction began in 859 during the reign of the idrissid dynasty. It is considered the oldest university in the world still active by UNESCO. the Guinness Book of Records, and by several historians.
In the twelfth century, a whole series of names among the greatest will be associated in one way or another with the Quaraouiyine: the great precursors of Sufism, such as Ibn Hrizim, Abou Madyan, Abdeslam Ben Mchich Alami, the Avenpace philosophers and Averroes, the geographer Al Idrissi but also Maimonides and Ibn Khaldun ...
Medersa Bou 'Inania is a school built in Fez, Morocco, between 1350 and 1355 for the sultan Abu' Inan Faris (r 1348 - 59), that is under the Merinid dynasty. It is the only Madrassah in the city with that of the Seffarin to have a minaret, and it also adjoining shops for its financing, as well as large latrines, which testify to its public character. Indeed, the madrassah functioned as well as a school as a Friday mosque.
This madrassah (School) is open to non-Muslims, like most medieval Medersas in Morocco, such as its namesake of Meknes, or the Ben Youssef Madrasah in Marrakech, or those Al 'Attarin or As Saffarin of Fez, and was located in the city, in a district joining the old city and new Merinid constructions. The general plan is irregular, because of the location, but a certain symmetry is respected. The main entrance leads to a large central courtyard, on which open two smaller halls, used for courtyards, and topped with wooden domes. This plan is reminiscent of the two -western plans, born in Iran and used in a contemporary way in Mamluk Egypt.
At the end of the courtyard, there is a prayer room with two naves parallel to the qibla. It has a single mihrab, which protrudes into the wall, and four columns of onyx. This room is covered with two wooden vaults.
Around this main complex unfolds the student cells, accessible from the entrance vestibule via narrow corridors.
Medersa Attarine is an old Koranic school in Fez, Morocco.
This madrassah was built between 1323 and 1325 by the Merinid sultan Abu Sai Othman. It was named after the souk of perfumes and adjoining spices: the souk el-Attarine. It is located near the Quaraouiyine.
Musée du Batha The museum of Batha is a Moroccan ethnographic museum created in Fes in 19151, at the beginning of the French protectorate in Morocco and in the palace of the same name with Hispano-Moorish architecture, previously built under the reign of sultans Moulay Hassan I (1873 -1894) and Moulay Abdelaziz (1894-1908).
Borj Nord is a fort built in 1582 north of Fez, Morocco, on the orders of Sultan Ahmed al-Mansur, whose design is inspired by the architecture of Portuguese fortresses of the sixteenth century. It was one of the largest surveillance posts in the city of Fez and was also used as a cannon factory.
Of square plan, the four corners are equipped with four bastions in the shape of spearheads. The deck is designed to withstand the weight and fire of cannons.
Having served as barracks and then prison in the time of the French Protectorate, the monument houses since 1963 the Museum of Weapons.
Hri Souani: It was in the seventeenth century that Moulay Ismaïl built Hri Souani, huge granaries located 500m from the Royal Palace in Meknes. Divided into several rooms, the largest measuring more than 26 meters long, 10 meters wide and 9 meters high, the building has walls of 4 meters thick, which allows the rooms to keep a constant temperature optimal for the food preservation. Attics are also equipped with wells that once served both the water supply and the maintenance of the Souani basin.
The rooms are now empty but the atmosphere is such that they are used for various events and even sometimes for filming historical films. Indeed, it is here that were shot some scenes of the films "The last temptation of Christ" and "Jesus of Nazareth". We can then imagine the atmosphere of this place full of history and mysteries.
The little Hertz Morocco advice: rent a cheap car to visit the city of Meknes and its former royal granary Hri Souani.
Le mausolée de Moulay Ismaïl is located in Meknes, Morocco. This mosque, built in 1703 by Ahmed Eddahbi, became the mausoleum where Sultan Moulay Ismaïl rests alongside one of his wives and two of his sons. It is one of the few religious monuments in Morocco open to non-Muslims.
La prison de Kara The prison of Kara is a prison built in the eighteenth century under the reign of Sultan Ismail ben Sherif, it is in the city of Meknes, the prison looks like a vast dark underground built like a labyrinth.
Le palais de la Bahia is an old nineteenth-century palace of eight hectares of Moorish / Islamic style, in Marrakesh, Morocco. Currently a museum, it is one of the masterpieces of Moroccan architecture and Islamic art, one of the major monuments of the country's cultural heritage, and one of the main places of tourism in Morocco.
The Koutoubia mosque, or mosque of the booksellers, was started under the Berber dynasty of the Almoravids in 1120, but was deeply reworked from 1162 under the caliph Almohad Abu Yusuf Yaqub al-Mansur, and became one of the most characteristic buildings of this style. Its name comes from the fact that it was located in the souk of manuscript dealers.
It is organized on a plan in This tradition exists since the construction of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in the ninth century, and is also found in Spain. It is in fact a hypostyle Arab plan, that is to say comprising a large courtyard surrounded by a portico and a prayer room with columns. The naves are perpendicular to the wall of qibla, that of the center being wider; and the span that runs along the wall qibli is also magnified, which forms a T, hence the name. The mihrab is treated as a very deep niche, and the minaret, 77 m high, is of square section, according to the tradition of the Muslim west.
Its 17 naves, supported by numerous white pillars, house one of the largest prayer halls of the Muslim West (90 × 60 m) with a capacity of up to twenty thousand faithful. The building was restored in the spirit of the original monument in 1990, under the authority of the Moroccan Ministry of Culture.
The Saadian Tombs of Marrakech in Morocco, date from the time of the great sultan Ahmed al-Mansur Saadi (1578-1603). These tombs were discovered only around 1917, then restored by the service of the Beaux-Arts. They are richly decorated.
The mausoleum houses the bodies of some sixty Saadians, including Al-Mansour, his successors and his family. The building is composed of three rooms. The most prestigious mausoleum is the Hall of Twelve Columns. This hall houses the tomb of Sultan son Ahmed El Mansour. Its cupola is carved with cedar, and the stuccoes are finely worked, the burials are made of Carrara marble from Italy. This mausoleum is a very good example of Hispano-Moorish decorative art.
Outside are the graves of soldiers and servants and a garden of the necropolis.
Medersa Ben Youssef This Koranic school was founded at the beginning of the 14th century by the Moroccan monarch Abu el Hassan. Only with the reign of the Saadians who enlarged and redecorated the building in 1570, Madrasa became the largest Islamic college in the Maghreb. Region. Up to 900 students would have lived there to study law and theology. The monarchy supported them by providing food and lodging - the kitchen, however, had to be done by the students themselves. Madrasa Ben Youssef was transformed into a museum in 1960 and, since its renovation in 1999, it is one of the most popular sites in Marrakech. The bronze doorway at the entrance to the college, adorned with beautiful cedarwood and mosaic carvings, is an impressive masterpiece of its time.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONS
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SERVICES INCLUDED
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SERVICE EXCLUDED
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PRICE
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- Duration: ................12 days /8 nights
- GRADE:....................EASY.
- PERIOD: ..................All the year.
- PICK UP DETAILS:.................Pick up from the airport / Meeting point.
- DROP OFF DETAILS:.............Drop off at the airport.
- ACCOMMODATION: ............Kasbahs - Places- Comfortable Riads & Guesthouses.
- FOOD & DRINKS:..................Fresh Salade & Hot meals Moroccan tagines will be provided in the restaurants.
- English speaking driver guide.
- Comfortable & AC vehicle (Gaz included)
- 11 nights Accommodation at authentic Riads equivalent to 4* (including 1 night at the nomadic camp).
- Trek in the Atlas Mountains.
- Camel ride in Merzouga dunes.
- Meals (11 Breakfasts, 8 Dinners, 10 Lunches).
- Meals not mentioned on the itinerary
- Drinks
- Visit Fees
- Tips
We mainely arrange private tours, but if you could not afford the price, we will open a new departure for you, the rates are based on the private / group size, preferred hotels / Riads.
