Morocco Travel Guide

B1

WALLED  TOWN    CENTRE

NEIGHBOURHOOD

SYNAGOGUE

WATERFALL

    Shopping

8    Ensemble   Artisanal

Sights & Activities

Medina

Offline map Google  map Sefrou’s    medina  is  a   manageable  place   to  get around, especially

compared to Fez. The Oued Aggaï flows through its centre, opening the place up and giving it
more of an airy feeling than many old medinas. The best point of entry is the northerly Bab el-
Maqam . Follow the main flow of people downhill to the southeast and pass two mosques.
Cross over the river and continue up the main shopping street to where the road splits: straight
ahead takes you to Bab Merba, in the medina’s southern wall, next to another mosque; the right
fork brings you to the beginning of the mellah.

Mellah

The mellah stretches from here northwest along the river. Although its Jewish population has
gone, the district still retains a few distinctive wooden-galleried houses and lanes so narrow
two people can only just pass. In its heyday, the mellah was so dark and crowded that street
lamps had to be lit even in the middle of the day.

Synagogue

Offline map Google map Just south of Bab Merba, this synagogue is now closed. When we visited,
the king had just announced money to restore the city walls, although there were mixed feelings
about a plan to pave over sections of the river in the medina.

Cascades

A 1.5km walk west of town are the Cascades, a modest waterfall. Follow the signs from Ave
Moulay Hassan around Al-Qala’ (a semifortified village) and along the river’s lush valley.

THE CHERRY FESTIVAL

Sefrou  is  a   sleepy  place   on  the whole,  except  in  early   June    when    the annual  Cherry  Festival    (Festival   des Cerises;

http://www.festival-cerises-sefrou.com) fills   the streets for four    days    to  celebrate   the local   cherry  harvest.    There’s plenty  of  folk

music,  along   with    displays    by  local   artists,    parades,    fantasias   (cavalry    charges)    and sports  events, as  well    as  the crowning    of

the Cherry  Queen.  Sefrou  lays    claim   to  the longest running town    festival    in  Morocco –   it  celebrated  its 90th    year    in  2010.

Sleeping