Welcome!

Welcome to this gallery.
It features images from my trip to Morocco which was from September 17th to October 1st 2013. All images but the first are in 2560×1600, so they are best viewed in fullscreen on a 16:10 monitor (but others also work).
Images in this gallery may be used under CC-BY.

Click a picture on the right or the following button to close this window. You can then navigate through the images using the bar on the right or by using your arrow keys.

Agadir Airport
Aeroport Agadir Al Massira
Agadir
Way to the beach.
Agadir: Beach and Headland at Night
The arabic text on the hill reads “God, Fatherland, King”, which is Morocco’s motto.
Agadir: Port
Tamri: Bay
In the verdant valley on the right, people grow bananas. They are too small to export, so they are only eaten by the locals.
Tamanar: Goat Tree
This is an argan tree. Goats climb all across them and eat the fruits. They cannot digest the nut of the fruit, which is the only part of commercial interest and is collected from their leftovers. The nut is then opened and its two pips are grinded to produce argan oil. It is filtered and used as vegetable oil or to make a range of primarily cosmetic products. The production steps are done in so-called cooperatives founded by farmers to prevent product plagiarism and stop the farmers’ exploitation.
Tamanar: Serious Kitten
...is serious.
Tamanar: Puppy
Its left hind leg is injured.
Essaouira: Alley
Essaouira: Seaside
Viewed from a small cannon tower’s battlement.
Essaouira: Fishing Boats Near the Fish Market
I like the blue one over there most.
Casablanca: Sunset
Casablanca: Road in the Outskirts
Casablanca: Mosque Hassan II.
People were forced to donate at least one dirham when this mosque was built from 1982 to 1992. Furthermore, the state did not pay its employees one monthly wage but used it for the mosque. It has enough space for 125,000 people, which turned out to be way too much.
Rabat: King’s Palace
The building cannot be visited and you must not walk over parts of the streets in front.
Rabat: King’s Palace
The palace is guarded by 3 men: The blue one is a traffic policeman, the camouflage one is a soldier, and the white one (red in winter) is a royal bodyguard.
Rabat: Incomplete Mosque and Incomplete Minarett
Rabat: Mausoleum
Located near the incomplete mosque and minarett.
Rabat: Mausoleum
Rabat: Artisians’ Quarter
The man on the right swings the bobble of his hat around while playing the sintir and castanets.
Moulay Idriss Zerhoun
Moulay Idriss Zerhoun: Mausoleum
Some primarily older Moroccans believe that visiting the Moulay Idriss Zerhoun mausoleum, which is also a mosque, a certain number of times can replace the haj to Mekka. This mosque, like almost all other mosques in Morocco, must not be entered by non-muslims. This is a local law and not enforced by the religion.
Volubilis: Caracalla Triumphal Arch
Volubilis was a Roman settlement. Currently they digged up 42 ha, but that’s only half of it. The triumphal arch is one of the very few buildings on the site with more than half a meter of height. The site mainly consists of mosaics on the floor of the former houses.
Meknès: Granary and Horse Stable
Moulay Ismail was afraid that his hometown of Meknès could be sieged. The current leader’s hometown is always the capital of Morocco, so it changed a lot of times in history.
Meknès: Granary and Horse Stable
[cont.] Because he feared sieges that much, Moulay Ismail built this giant 150×200 meters granary and horse stable hidden under olive trees, as well as numerous walls, from which the city owes its nickname – Versailles of Morocco. Despite the effort (or because of it), the city was never sieged for more than 15 days.
Meknès: Moulay Ismail’s Mausoleum
Moulay Ismail’s mausoleum is also a mosque (just like Moulay Idriss’ one) and one of the very few mosques that non-muslims may enter.
Fès: King Hassan’s Palace
Built in the 14th century, King Hassan’s palace is not publicly accessible like all the other palaces in the country.
Fès: Suq in the Jews’ Quarter
Moroccans call Jewish quarters the salt quarters, because Jews were known to sell salt back then. Today, the quarter is used as suq, an Arabian type of market.
Fès: Blue Gate
Nicknamed the Soldiers’ Father (Arabic for military general), the Blue Gate wasn’t blue before 1913.
Fès: University Mosque
Fès: Tanner’s Shop
The shop sells shoes and bags. Please keep your wife leashed all the time.
Fès: Tanners’ Terrace
From the Tanner’s Shop, you can watch the workers tanning leather. The white tubs are filled with chalky water to make the leather softer and remove the smell. The other tubs are for tanning and dyeing. If the camera was moved up only a little, the picture would display some hundred satellite dishes.
Fès: Kairaouine Mausoleum and Mosque
Fès
The suq spans from slightly outside of the right edge to the white minarett in the center.
Fès: Sunrise
Ifrane
What looks like a village in Germany’s Black Forest is actually located in Morocco. Most of the buildings and vegetation in Ifrane look European.
Béni Mellal: Reservoir of Barrage El-Hansali
Marrakesh: Sunset
Sidi Bouzguia: Tajines in a Shop
Marrakesh: Jardin Majorelle
Marrakesh: Jardin Majorelle
Ozout: Waterfall
Ozout: Landscape
Tizi-n’Tichka Pass: Misty Valley
Tizi-n’Tichka Pass: Northern Part
The pass was once controlled a Berber prince. He affiliated with the French occupying forces and is seen by the Berbers as a big traitor.
Aït Ben Haddou: Kasbah
This kasbah is roughly 300 to 400 years old. It basically consists of mulitple kasbahs, making it a xar. The clay houses are not inhabited, they are just used for the market. The bridge in the front is rather new.
Aït Ben Haddou
Aït Ben Haddou: Another Kasbah
Zagora: Sunset
Finally a really cool sunset in this gallery.
Erg Chebbi
Erg Chebbi is located in the middle of a sand desert. When I was there, it was very windy. The sand did not only hurt on my skin, it also caused my camera to stop working for a day or two.
Tinghir: Wells
They are no longer in use.
Tinghir: Dromedaries
Moroccans say that Allah gave them two things: Dromedaries and date palms.
Tinghir
Nearby is the Todra Valley.
Road of the 1000 Kasbahs: Palm Tree
This palm tree splits the sky in two parts, a clear and a cloudy part. Pretty cool palm tree, isn’t it?
Atlas Mountains
Near the line where High and Anti Atlas Mountains meet, clouds only barely float above the ground.
Aït Baha: Terraces at the Nearby Pass
Berbers use the terraces to grow barley, similar to how the Asians grow rice. This keeps the water from the rare but heavy rainfalls for as long as possible.
Aït Baha: Road of the Nearby Pass
Idikl: Agadir
Agadir is not only a holiday resort at the Atalantic Ocean, it is also a name for some sort of granary castle. This one however is not a granary but used as housing.
Tafraoute: Kissing People
Some part of the stones are said to depict kissing people. Can you find them?
Tafraoute: Blue Rocks
The rocks were installed by the Belgian artist Jean Vérame in 1984 and are now painted blue every year by the local native Berbers. Because this is quite expensive, this is subsidized by the government.
Kirduz Pass: Foggy Street
Tiznit
Agadir: Sunset
Sunset as viewed from my hotel room’s balcony.
Agadir: Beach
Did someone say “Beach, please!”? Here you are. So the third-to-last photo in this gallery is basically the same as the third one. Just at daytime.
Agadir: Suq
Do they have elephants in Morocco? If so, this photo makes me want to be one.
Agadir: Cat
Not everyone is happy that this is the end of this gallery.