With its lazy river, easy ocean access, ancient medina, and multi-layered history, Azemmour can steal a visitor's heart before they know what hit them. It certainly stole mine, and this summer is off to a great start despite the extended lockdown due to coronavirus.
When Azemmour locals learned the quarantine will keep us in place at least through June, instead of rioting and looting and destroying their own neighborhoods, they started talking and planning and collaborating to purchase supplies, then went door-to-door offering fresh coats of paint for any property owner who'd allow it. The results are stunning. Far from the industrial brick and washed-out concrete of most urban centers, here there is color, color, color everywhere!
Have a look at some of the new artwork on display in Azemmour's medina. I can't wait to bring travelers through on a walking tour and show them all these beautiful murals firsthand after the borders reopen!
But before we get to the art, let's have a look at some history of the town. Above are two different angles of the same design. In one of them, the ancient architecture of the medina wall is visible. The rock and mud construction dates back to the Portuguese occupation, circa 1486.
History is the Key
The town's actual timeline dates back much further. More than a thousand years of recorded history is known about the settlement here at Azemmour, and workers at construction sites frequently uncover buried rooms and entire buildings that seem to continue seven layers deep under the existing architecture.
Take for instance the home shown in the photo below, on the left with the blue door. It is more than five hundred years old.
We had the pleasure of meeting and talking with its current owner, who knows quite a bit about the house's history. He took us inside and showed us its original construction, as well as a very old door that, like the house, dates back to the sixteenth century.
The door still has its medieval-era lockset and key.
The door seemed mighty familiar to us, though. And we knew why. It is almost identical to the door on the riad where Michelios and I now live.
Yep, that is our actual front door. Minus the medieval lockset, but same medieval construction.
Interestingly, when I was doing follow-up research about Azemmour's thousand-year history, I came across this article from 2018 which also shows our actual front door. I don't mean the blue door in the second photo, although I know exactly where that one is, too. But the photo captioned "narrow street in the medina" shows the alleyway and overhead arch that lead to the corner of our house (pictured before its coat of blue paint,) as well as the ornate, original Jewish embossing in the ancient mortarwork above our door.
Below is the same shot of the narrow street shown in the above article, a cell-phone pic that I stepped outside and took just now, as I was writing this post. I have to admit--it's a bit of a head rush to live in a house so connected with history that it shows up in travel photos of the area.
Interestingly, also in the photo above, one of the original gun ports is visible near the top of the wall, to the right of the door and window. Here is a closer view of it:
Another gun port exists further over on the same wall, which tells us that at least part of the structure of this house dates back to the sixteenth century when the city was defending itself from Portuguese invasion, and later, when the Portuguese were defending their spoils against invaders coming upriver from the sea. Other interesting geometry still exists in the wall near the gunports, like this cutout that presumably once contained a window.
The bones of ancient dwellings lie in ruins all over the medina. Some belong to Jewish families who once populated Azemmour, then returned to Israel. Azemmour has honored the long-ago agreement that any Jewish person whose ancestors owned property in the town can come back to reclaim it at any time, that it will be held in trust for them in case they want to return. I don't know if that is the case with the old house in these three photos, but what's interesting about these shots are the exposed substructures of wood and brick from centuries long past.
A Town of Beauty
Even in the spaces without murals and artwork, Azemour and its medina are full of graceful lines and unusual interplay of light, with startling splashes of color in unexpected places.
Captured in Pigment
This is a courtyard near the center of the medina. All in one place, several aspects of Moroccan culture are represented.
Here you have a representation of modern anime, featuring "Luffy" from One Piece.
Directly beside it, a Berber woman baking bread.
Nearby, a graphic reminder of how coronavirus took a bite out of our entire world.
Could you imagine coming home every day to walk through this beautiful door?
Or whiling away the hours in this fairytale cottage tucked away on a side street, with hearts and smiley faces and cleverly concealed waterlines that disappear into a vibrant splash of color?
These rainbow cobblestones certainly cheered me up.
I could almost hear the music played by this all-female Malhoun band. Malhoun is a traditional Moroccan music with origins in certain forms of poetry.
Scenes from the Azemmour riverfront are a common subject of murals, with good reason. The view from the opposite riverbank is one of the most beautiful vistas in Morocco.
Lifestyle is also a popular theme, such as the depiction of these fishermen hauling in a catch from the Atlantic.
A Town Full of Artists
I was actually privileged to see that last mural in progress. It was rendered by a professional artist who owns a shop just across the intersection from the painting.
Other professional artists have storefronts nearby, as well.
Faces Behind the Beauty
Community Spirit
This street painting challenge brought people out of their long confinement in droves. I hadn't seen so much life in Azemmour since lockdown began. Men and women, children and elders all worked side by side to cover the neighborhood with new life. For most, the idea that their artwork would be shared around the world in photos was deeply exciting.
The man in the very last photo was so taken with the idea that people in other countries would see a picture of him that he couldn't stop smiling. I don't yet know his name, but I know where he lives. So in the spirit of the street painting challenge, I issue a challenge here on Hive: it would be wonderful if we could assemble a collection of comments from all over the globe letting him know you saw his photo and send your love. So please comment and re-blog so others can participate. I'd love to see his reaction to all the greetings!
