Chefchaouene

Chefchaouene, also called Chechaouene or Chechaouen, French Chaouen, Spanish Xauen, town, northern Morocco, situated in the Rif mountain range. Founded as a holy city in 1471 by the warrior Abū Youma and later moved by Sīdī ʿAlī ibn Rashīd to its present site at the base of Mount El-Chaouene, it became a refuge for Moors expelled from Spain. A site long closed to non-Muslims, it was occupied in 1920 by the Spanish, who restored it to the Moroccan kingdom in 1956. Chefchaouene contains 12 mosques and presents a picturesque appearance, with houses roofed with round tiles common in southern Europe but rare in Morocco. Its luxuriant gardens are watered from a constant mountain spring. Chefchaouene has become a very popular vacation and tourist spot, especially for Europeans touring northern Morocco. It is famous for the blue walls of its buildings, a colour unique among Moroccan towns. It is connected by road with Al-Hoceïma, Ouazzane, and Tétouan. Pop. (2004) 35,709.