8 Days Morocco Cultural Tour To Imperial Cities From Casablanca

Arrival at Casablanca airport reception and transfer to the hotel, accommodation at the 4 * hotel in Casablanca.

After breakfast at the hotel, brief visit of Casablanca: Hassan II Mosque, a masterpiece of Arab-Muslim architecture built partly on the sea with the highest minaret in the world. Outside visit of the esplanade, the corniche, then a panoramic tour of the Place des Nations with its art deco buildings of the 1930s then route to Rabat,
They are the Almohads, and in particular their leader Abdelmoumen, who founded Rabat around 1150.
Guided tour of Rabat includes:
– Hassan Tower:
Standing out from the sky, overlooking the city, Hassan Tower rises above the ruins of the mosque (built by Sultan Almohad Yacoub El Mansour) which she was the minaret. This sanctuary, probably the largest of its time, seems to have been intended for the faithful of a vast metropolis. Destroyed at the time of the earthquake of Lisbon in 1755, it remains nowadays only imposing vestiges dominated by a truncated minaret, replica of the Giralda of Seville, and the Koutoubia of Marrakech.
The mausoleum Mohamed V
This monument stands in the grandiose setting of the Hassan Mosque and immortalizes the memory of the late SM Mohammed V, who died in 1961. The result, admirable of balance and refinement, of a laborious work undertaken by more than 400 skilled craftsmen of the Kingdom.
– Kasbah Oudaya
– The Royal Palace:
Built in 1864, the royal palace can only be admired from the outside. It includes various buildings including the Royal Cabinet, the offices of the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court, the Imperial College, the Royal Barracks and the Al Fateh Mosque where the King surrenders with his court, for Friday prayers.
After driving to Meknes, arrival and overnight at the hotel4 * or riad in Meknes.

(UNESCO World Heritage / Fes (UNESCO World Heritage) (1H by motorway)
After breakfast guided tour of Meknes.
The painter Eugene Delacroix said of Meknes: “it is a place made for painters … the beautiful abounds … the beautiful runs the streets, I’m dizzy from everything I saw, I’m in this moment like a man who dreams. ”
The city of Meknes had its hour of glory during the reign of Moulay Ismaïl, this “Moroccan Louis XIV”. He erected the ramparts 40 km long, looted the ruins of Volubilis and the palace el-Badi of Marrakech to build his imperial city. There remains of this palace, Dar el-Makhzen, only the immense granaries, an artificial lake and the stables. Arrival and visit of the Agdal basin further south stands Dar EL-Ma (water house), built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The granaries (Heri -Souani), were used as stores where were stored the food reserves of the city, but also the hay and grain intended to feed the twelve thousand horses of the sovereign. The 7-meter-thick walls and an underground network of pipes maintained a cool and constant temperature inside the reserves. To power the pipes, norias powered by mules or horses raised the water of tanks 40 m deep. According to the chroniclers of the time, Moulay Ismail’s obsession with being besieged was at the origin of the excessiveness of the granaries which, once filled, could have ensured the survival of the city for twenty years! No seat actually lasted more than a week under his reign. In one of the rooms, a large carved wooden door from the royal palace has a sun in its center. Formerly called rose window, it was the symbol of the Merinid dynasty. Its existence predates the sun of Louis XIV, which was wrongly said to have inspired Moulay Ismaïl. The geometric patterns on the outside of the rose window represent the cosmos and the forbidden, that is, what can not and must not be achieved. Continuation of the visit by the mosque and the tomb of Moulay Ismail and the famous door “Bab El Mansour” the most photographed door in Morocco. Continuation to the Roman city of volubilis guided tour of the Roman city that Delacroix after visiting it said: “It’s beautiful, it’s like in the time of Homer: the Romans and Greeks are there at my door.”
After road to Fez, arrival and night at the hotel or in Riad.

After breakfast at the hotel, day spent visiting the city of Fez, its historical monuments and interest, the souks.
“Fez does not give up easily. To access it, you have to go back through the big door, both visible and veiled, from the sacred. Because Fez is a sanctuary. This is how the Sufis, those initiates of Islam, have always called it: the Zawiya. The traveler who came from afar knew that on arriving at the gates of the city, it was to his founder and his patron saint himself that he asked for hospitality. For him, Fez is the city of Moulay Idriss. “.
– Medina Fes El Bali:
It is the largest in Morocco and the most exciting. It was declared World Heritage by Unesco in 1976. Its labyrinthine lanes lead to a multitude of historical wonders and souks.
It is the historical heart of the city, established on the slopes of a basin crossed by the Wadi Fez: it is the medina, with its medersas Attarine (built between 1323 and 1325) and Bou Anania (built between 1350 and 1357 by the sultan Abu Inane), its Nejjarine fountain, its mausoleum Moulay Idriss and its famous Karaouine mosque.
– Souk El Attarine:
It is the souk of grocers, it is undoubtedly the most colorful market of Fez.
– Nejjarine:
This small place takes its name from the cabinetmakers who occupy the stalls of the district. A pretty fountain all zéliges ornate and a carved wooden pediment comes to decorate the place. On this square is an old Foundouk (guest house) transformed today into a museum where are exposed wonders tracing the history of wood in Morocco.
– The Quaraouyne Mosque:
Founded in 862 by a Muslim Fatima El Fihria from Quairouan. It is the oldest university in the Islamic Arab world. Fourteen doors allow access to the interior of the university which has a valuable library of 30,000 volumes.
– Zaouia Moulay Idriss:
Houses the tomb of Moulay Idriss II founder of Fez. It is the holy place of Fez.
– Madrasa BouInania:
Islamic University built between 1350 and 1357 by the Sultan Mérinide Abu Inane and whose architecture is one of the masterpieces of Moorish art.
– Medersa Attarine:
It is a Koranic school built in 1323 by Sultan Mérinide Abu Said whose decor is extremely fine.
– Dar El Magana:
It is a hydraulic clock dating from 1357, located on Talaa Sghira, in a carved wood and plaster decor.
– South Borj:
It is a fortress built under the reign of Saadian Sultan Ahmed El Mansour Dehbi (1578-1609). It now houses a museum of small arms.
Installation at the hotel 4 *, or accommodation in Riad circuit
After, optional optional outing in a trendy bar in the city of Fez or attend a night show in a palace of Arabian Nights (35 € / person dinner included).

After breakfast departure for the city of Marrakech, arrival and installation at your hotel or Riad, time available to relax.
Optional dinner show with live music (50 € / person)

Marrakech was founded by Youssef Ibn Tachfine, first ruler of the Almoravid dynasty in 454 AH, corresponding to the year 1062 of the Christian era.
After breakfast, guided tour of the monuments of Marrakech:
– Bahia Palace: The Bahia Palace is an Arab palace built in the late nineteenth century by the Moroccan architect El Mekki on behalf of the grand vizier Ahmed ben Moussa said Ba Hmad. 7 years were needed for its construction. It has a single level with 150 richly decorated rooms, beautiful patios and gardens covering several hectares.
– Saadian Tombs: Reliving the golden age of Marrakech It is said that one does not take one’s riches in one’s tomb. Yet, the sixteenth-century Saadian Sultan Ahmed El-Mansour Eddahbi has made the adage lie. Nicknamed “the Victorious”, because of his military successes against Portugal and Sudan, and “Le Doré” for the wealth he derived from the sugar trade, he had the ceiling of the Hall of the Twelve Columns covered with gold. to the sumptuous decor of stucco and marble, so that his future tomb is worthy of his glory. El-Mansour died in the midst of this splendor in 1603. The Alawite Sultan Moulay Ismaïl decided to wall the tombs in order to remove from the spirits the memory of his predecessors. Accessed by a small passage from the mosque of the Kasbah, they fell into oblivion before being rediscovered in 1917.
– Minaret of LA KOUTOUBIA: emblem of Marrakech, served as architectural model at the Giralda of Seville and Hassan Tower of Rabat. A monumental illustration of the Moorish decor, it is distinguished by its mathematical proportions, its festooned arches and its serrated crenellations. Originally, the minaret was covered with the typical pink plaster of Marrakech. When it was restored in 1990, the specialists decided to keep its authentic appearance and its visible stones. The mosque of Koutoubia is forbidden to non-Muslims (decision taken by General Lyautey), but it is possible to visit its gardens, ideal place to listen closely to the call of the muezzin.
The Grand Mosque keeps the upper hand on all the activities in the imperial cities: it is the place of worship, the university, the court, the inviolable asylum, the space of conviviality where must fulfill without obstacle the duties towards God and towards men. Social and urban symbol of a power to impress the spirits, the minaret, which transcends the whole city, summarizes the urban ethics. The muezzin’s call to prayer five times a day, which tells the story of the day, is a reminder of the unity of the Muslim community.
– Place Jemaa el Fna: Open Air Theater where trainers of monkeys and snakes, tearing teeth, reading of good adventures surpass themselves in virtuosity to whom you tear the most dirhams for the photo. At dusk, the storytellers keep the public in suspense with the story of ancient Arab legends, told with strong gestures. Astrologers, healers and belly dancers settle on the outskirts of the square, then invaded by a hundred food stalls from which odorous smoke escapes. The whole offers an unforgettable spectacle that earned the place Jemaa el-Fna to be listed in 2001 to the Oral World Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
In the place Jemaa el Fna, you can enjoy a Henna tatoo session for women or a session with the fortune-tellers
– Marrakech Souks:
A real labyrinth where the crowd snatches you, then brings you into the game of rays of light.
In a maze of shady streets, we cross the copper souk where coppersmiths hammer the metal ancestral way. In the souk of the dyers they dry large skeins of wool with rich colors, stretched from one wall to another on poles. At the souk aux tapis, we sell at auction to the highest bidder.
And the potter’s souk presents tajine dishes, glazed pottery and beautiful ceramics. We also cross the souk of jewelers, leatherworkers and cabinetmakers. In the end the spice souk, there, the scents of saffron, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, orange blossoms daze the senses
Further on the shelves of apothecaries line up amber, musk, henna pots, jasmine or rose extract vials. Night at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel, free day to relax, go shopping or go on excursions or optional activities or half day relaxing spa hammam, massage or cooking class.

“Who is used to traveling, knows that there is always a time when you have to leave.” Paulo Coelho, the Alchemist.
After breakfast and following the flight schedule,
Transfer to the airport, boarding assistance and end of our services.