| Tetouan تطوان | ||
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Coat of arms and flag   | ||
| State | Morocco | |
|---|---|---|
| Region | Mediterranean Morocco | |
| Altitude | From 2 to 205 m a.s.l. | |
| Inhabitants | 402.118 (2020 estimate) | |
| POSTAL CODE | 93000 | |
| Time zone | UTC 1 | |
Position
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| Institutional website | ||
Tetouan ( or Tetuan, in Arabic تطوان, Tiṭṭawān) is a city in the Mediterranean Morocco.
To know
Background
The city has existed since the 3rd century BC. as evidenced by archaeological excavations in the locality of Tamuda which have brought to light finds from the Phoenician, Carthaginian, Mauritanian and Roman periods. Around 600 BC the Phoenicians had established their trading post at the mouth of the Oued Martil. Tetouan is mentioned for the first time in the 11th century by the Andalusian geographer Abu Oubayd Al Bakri. In his work Al Masalik wal Mamalik ("the routes and the kingdoms"), the geographer precisely describes the route between Sebta and Tittawane (تيطاوان) and informs that the city was equipped with a qasba and bathed by the ouadi Rassen (or Wadi Mjeksa). The mountain that dominates the city is mentioned by the name of Icheqqar (إيشقار). Tetouan is also mentioned by Almohad sources from the following century.
The historian Ali Ibn Abi-Zar, reports that the city was transformed in 1308 into a military stronghold against the nearby city of Ceuta, then occupied by the Nasrids of Granada.
It was mainly the taking of Ceuta by the Portuguese in 1415 to determine once again the role of Tetouan as a base for military campaigns against the invaders but, as reported by the chronicler Gomes Eanes de Zurara, Tetouan was destroyed in 1437 by Don Duarte de Meneses, son of Don Pedro de Meneses, first captain general of Ceuta.
In order to maintain possession of the naval base of Ceuta, the Portuguese, continually threatened by the Berbers settled in Tetouan, did not hesitate to make an alliance with Barbarossa, leader of the corsairs of Algiers.
In the seventeenth century the population of Tetuan increased massively following the expulsion of the Moriscos decreed in 1609 by Philip III of Spain. Under the reign of Mulay Isma'il (1672-1727), Tetouan experienced a great economic development thanks above all to maritime trade with the ports of Marseille, Livorno and Alexandria.
Subsequently, the city experienced a great decline, the causes of which were due to the transfer of commercial activities to Tangier, a port capable of hosting larger vessels. After the plague epidemic of 1818-1819 which caused 6,259 victims, or a quarter of the population of alora, the city was occupied by the Spanish army from 1859 to 1862.
The city was visited in June 1883 by the French explorer Charles de Foucauld who stayed in the Jewish quarter (mellah) described as the cleanest and best built in Morocco. However, the writer notes that the rest of the city is in ruins.
After the Spanish occupation in 1913 Tetouan became the capital of the Spanish protectorate of Morocco and the seat of the khalifa (representative of the sultan) until independence in 1956. This period is characterized by the mainly political struggle between the Spanish administration and the Tetuan nationalists of the National Reform Party (Hizb Al Islah Al Watani), whose main personality is Abdelkhalek Torrès. In 1936, the capital of the Hispanic protectorate was one of the first cities to be controlled by the nationalists who supported General Francisco Franco when the Spanish Civil War broke out.
In April 1956 Tetouan was integrated into the independent Kingdom of Morocco. The 1960s saw a rapid decrease in the number of Tetouan Jews who mainly left for France, South America (Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil) and Israel.
As in the rest of the Andalusian cities of Morocco (Rabat, Salé, Chefchaouen and Fez), many families still bear Moorish names, generally evoking places on the Iberian Peninsula, such as Torres, Molina, Castillo, Aragon, Medina, Paez, Baeza, Morales, Murcia , Castilla, Figo, Moreno, Nuino, Dellero, Sordo, Salas, etc.
How to orient yourself
Tetouan: full screen map.Neighborhoods
- Medina - Like other Moroccan cities, Tetouan also has its own medina, surrounded on three sides by thick walls and dominated by Qasba (military citadel) characterized by a labyrinth of stairways, winding alleys, often blind or that widen into small squares. The sūq are bustling with activity and still feature craft shops of embroiderers, gunsmiths, dyers, leather tanners, etc. Inside the medina there is also the mellah, the old Jewish quarter.
- El Ensanche - Located west of the Medina, the neighborhood of El Ensanche (pronounced Chanti by the local population) was created by the Spaniards according to the architectural style in vogue in their country in the early 1900s.
- El Ensanche consists mainly of five-story buildings with shops on the ground floor. Some buildings have been restored as part of a civic heritage recovery program and equipped with green spaces in the center as in the case of Pabellones de Varela.
How to get
By plane
- 1 Tetouan airport (TTU). Royal Air Maroc Express flies by Al Hoceima, Casablanca seasonal charter flights from Rotterdam is Liege.
By bus
- 2 Gare routière de Tétouan. Modern station served by various bus lines. The offices of the CTM are located on the 3 Avenue Hassan.
How to get around
What see
- Moroccan Ethnographic and Art Museum. Founded in 1926 and moved to a former fortress in 1945, the handicraft collections show the traditions and customs of northern Morocco, with furniture, carpets, embroidery, ceramics, traditional male and female clothes used in the countryside , the tableware, furnishings and utensils that reveal the Andalusian influence. The collection of musical instruments, the reconstruction of a wedding ceremony and a kitchen with ovens used to cook bread, meats and vegetables are interesting. One room is dedicated to sidearms and firearms including a small cannon. The Museum is set around an Andalusian garden with a fountain adorned with mosaics.
- 1 archaeological Museum. It mainly collects finds from the Roman colony Lixus with the famous mosaic depicting the three Graces, objects in gold, bronzes, including the statuettes of Leda, of Hercules lifting Antaeus, of Theseus knocking down the Minotaur, which date back to the first century. Also of interest are many other objects from excavations in a locality near Tetuan: fragments of pottery, Punic perfume burners, a collection of Roman coins, another of Punic, pre-Roman and Roman ceramics and a series of Roman weights, jewels, oil lamps, various tools. for fishing, weaving, surgery and others.
- Erected in the 17th century and modified in 1948 and again in 1960, the palace is a fine example of Hispano-Moorish architecture. It was the sultan's residence in colonial times and after independence it became part of the assets of the crown.
Events and parties
What to do
Shopping
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- Suq el-Fuki. Characteristic long square where you can find the sellers of spices, mats, the typical "kesra" biscuits of Moroccan meals and the carpenters. There are numerous mosques with their minarets.
How to have fun
Where to eat
Where stay
Moderate prices
- Hotel Regina, 8 rue Sidi Mandri (New Town), ☎ 212 39 962113.
Safety
How to keep in touch
Around
- 1 Martil - The small port of Tetouan where many tourists prefer to find accommodation to be able to live on the beach.
- 2 Chefchaouen - Called the "blue pearl" due to the typical blue color of its houses.
- 3 Tamuda - Not far from Tetouan are the ruins of the ancient city of Tamuda, object, since 1933, of archaeological excavations whose finds are preserved in the archaeological museum of Tetuan. The urban layout of this settlement, inhabited in the third or second century BC, is still clearly visible. by Berbers who traded with Carthage.
- Tamuda was destroyed by Romans in the 1st century and transformed in the 2nd century into a Roman military camp. It was definitively abandoned in the 5th century.
- 4 M'diq (or Rincón) - Town of 35,000 inhabitants and seaside resort 15 km from Tetouan
