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| Your holiday in Chefchaouen |
As any
Moroccan city, the medina is his heart. To reach the heart of Chefchaouen, you
should pass through one of the gates that surround it. These doors are part of
the cultural heritage of the city:
THE “EL HAMMAR” DOOR – “BAB EL HAMMAR”
Located in
Souika Street, its name refers to the once well-known business in the region,
namely El Hammar meaning "donkey driver." This neighborhood, named
Bab El Hammar, was the starting point of a successful trade between Chefchaouen
and southern Morocco (Fez, Rabat) or north (Tangier, Tetouan). Therefore, this
door (and the course area) occupied a strategic place in the development of
this trade since it was a place of meeting and display of merchandise and
consequently a starting point for other shopping centers.
Some historians
describe El Hammar as Moroccans who worked with Spanish as soldiers and who
used this door as a starting point for their militaries operations.
THE “EL AIN” DOOR – “BAB EL AIN”
BAB EL AIN is
the most important and most popular door in Chefchaouen. It is located in
Kharrazine district and is therefore the point of union between the old and the
modern city. His name is associated with the name of Ayn (water source) that
was in the old tannery that the Spaniards turned into barracks when they
conquered the north of Morocco.
THE “SOUK” DOOR-“BAB SOUK”
This gate
is located in the West part of the medina. It is the largest and most imposing
of all the city gates. This door has been notorious in the past historical
events.
It is
called Bab Souk because as the story goes that in Chefchaouen, there were two
souks (markets): one inside the medina and the other - beyond this door. That
of the interior was held once every Friday instead Outa El Hammam while the
other took place outside the walls of the door each Monday and was reserved
mainly to the population of the surrounding villages.
THE “EL
MOUKAF” DOOR – “BAB EL MOUKAF”
It is
located inside the medina, in the district Kharrazine. Moukaf in Arabic means "stop" and
that door was precisely the stopping place for day laborers where they waited
offers of work especially in agriculture and construction. This custom supply
of labor still exists in Chefchaouen opens but today the stop (Moukaf) is at
Outa El Hammam.
There are
other gates that you can find in chefchaouen:
The “NOUKBA”
DOOR – “BAB NOUKBA”
The “EL
HARMOUN” DOOR – “BAB EL HARMOUN”
The “SEBANINE”
DOOR – “BAB SEBANINE”
The “ONSAR”
DOOR – “BAB ONSAR”
The “EL
EZAIB” DOOR – “BAB EL EZAIB”
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