visit assilah: 

Assilah meaning

          

 Asilah (arabic: أصيلة) is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 31 km (19 mi) south of Tanger. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact.

1.Assilah culture

Despite its tourism focus, Asilah is considered an excellent introduction to Morocco. The town hosts several annual music and arts festivals, including a mural-painting festival. Market day is on Thursday. The International Cultural Festival in August features jazz, Moroccan music, and art exhibitions, and it's also the time when new murals are painted on the medina's houses.

Many houses in Asilah showcase mashrabiya (oriel windows). The main cultural hub is the Centre Hassan II des Rencontres Internationales, located in a former Spanish barracks, which hosts festivals during the summer.

Due to its closeness to Spain, Asilah's cuisine is a blend of Ibero-Moroccan influences, featuring notable dishes such as paella, anchovies, and various seafood with both Moroccan and Valencian flavors.

2.Assilah travel guide

• Assilah medina beach

The old walled town (medina) of Asilah is well-preserved, with most of its structures dating back to the Portuguese occupation in the 15th and 16th centuries and the period that followed. The medina has undergone extensive restoration, and its buildings are typically painted white with occasional blue or green accents. Many murals created during the International Cultural Festival can also be found. Although the Portuguese rebuilt the city walls, the medina retains the characteristic maze-like layout and narrow alleys of an old Moroccan city.

• Assilah towers

The walls of Asilah were initially constructed by the Almohads and later restored and reinforced by the Marinids and Wattasids. When the Portuguese took the city in 1471, they rebuilt the walls to be more resistant to artillery and modified the city's layout, reducing its perimeter for easier control. Consequently, the current walls date almost entirely from the Portuguese occupation, except for some possible sections of the seaside walls. There are two main gates: Bab Homar, located in the mid-southern part of the walls, and Bab al-Qasaba, at the eastern end where the kasbah once stood. A rectangular tower, known as Borj al-Hamra ("Red Tower") or the Al-Qamra Tower, stands near the kasbah and overlooks an open square, showcasing distinct Portuguese architectural style.

• Assilah mosque

The Grand Mosque of Asilah is situated inside the former kasbah at the eastern end of the medina. It was constructed under Moulay Ismail shortly after the city was reclaimed for Morocco at the end of the 17th century. Moulay Ismail tasked the new governor of Tangier, Ali ibn Abdallah Errifi, with building the mosque, though it is possible that his son, Ahmed Errifi, was responsible for its actual construction. The mosque features an octagonal minaret, a characteristic common in some parts of northern Morocco but rare elsewhere in the country. With its whitewashed walls and minaret, the mosque's decoration is quite simple compared to other mosques built by the Errifis during the same period, such as the Kasbah Mosque in Tangier. Like other Moroccan mosques, it is open only to Muslims.

• Raisuli palace history wikipedia

This restored palace is located in the mid-northern part of the medina, adjacent to the sea walls. It was built in 1909 by Moulay Ahmed er-Raisuni, also known as Raisuli, a notorious local rogue and pirate who declared himself pasha of the region. Raisuli gained notoriety and wealth partly through kidnappings and ransoms, including several Westerners who later wrote about him. The palace has been restored, showcasing the luxury in which Raisuli lived. It features a lavish reception room adorned with zellij tilework, carved stucco, and painted wood, similar to other Moroccan palaces. The reception room also provides access to a large loggia and terrace overlooking the sea. Raisuli was infamous for allegedly executing convicted murderers by forcing them to jump from this terrace onto the sea rocks below.

• Sidi Mansour cemetery

At the far western end of the medina, a Portuguese bastion extends out to sea, serving as a popular spot for locals and tourists at sunset. In the angle between the bastion and the sea walls lies a platform with a small enclosed cemetery. This cemetery includes two small structures: the domed Marabout (mausoleum) of Sidi Ahmed ibn Moussa (also known as Sidi Ahmed el-Mansour and Sidi Mansour) and, opposite it, the mausoleum of his sister, Lalla Mennana. The area between these structures is covered with other graves adorned with colorful ceramic tiles.

• Church of San Bartolome, Asilah

Located in the new city outside the medina, this Roman Catholic Church was built by Spanish Franciscans in 1925. It still functions as a convent and is one of the few churches in Morocco permitted to ring its bells in public for Sunday mass. The architecture of the church is a blend of Spanish Colonial and Moorish styles.