F2
E2
E3
F3
E1C2
D2
E2
E2
C2
E2
E4
D3
E2D2
E2
D3
D2
E1
D2
D3A4
G31 Bab el-Ouahab
2 Banque al-Maghrib
3 Cathedrale St Louis
4 Grande Mosquée
5 Mosque Sleeping
6 Atlas Terminus
7 Hôtel Al Manar
8 Hôtel Angad
9 Hôtel Atrah
10 Hôtel Ibis Moussafir
11 Hôtel la Concorde
12 Hotel Orient Oujda
13 Hôtel Oujda
14 Hôtel Tlemcen Eating
15 Café La Défense
16 Café Pâtisserie Colombo
17 Pizza Providence
18 Restaurant Le Comme Chez Soi
19 Restaurant Le Dauphin
20 Restaurant Miami Inn
21 Restaurant NacionalTransport
22 Gare Routière
23 Local BusesHistory
The site of Oujda lies on the main axis connecting Morocco with the rest of North Africa (the
Romans built a road through here). Like Taza, it occupied a key position in controlling the east
and was often seen as a vital stepping stone for armies aiming to seize control of the heartland
around it.
The town was founded by the Meghraoua tribe in the 10th century and remained independent
until the Almohads overran it in the 11th century. Later, under the Merenids, Algerian rulers
based in Tlemcen took the town on several occasions, and in the 17th century it fell under the
Ottoman in Algiers.
Moulay Ismail put an end to this in 1687, and Oujda remained in Moroccan hands until 1907,
when French forces in Algeria crossed the frontier and occupied the town in one of a series of
similar ‘incidents’. The protectorate was still five years away, but the sultan was powerless to
stop it.
The French soon expanded Oujda, which has since swelled in size as a provincial capital and
in its role as the main gateway for commerce with Algeria.