I stepped away from the main thoroughfare of Chefchaouen, a long wide alley lined with shops selling tourist curios and colorful spices that wound its way through the dense hillside town. The alleys were crowded with early spring tourists and residents going about their daily routines, and I wanted to explore the more remote parts of this village. The blues continued on however, a never-ending fabric of paint that coated the city.
Chefchaouen was this magical oasis of blue in the brown dusty hill-slopes in north-eastern Morocco. The medina had gained its blue hues in the late 15th century as it received its first influx of Jewish migrants, and it stuck to this ever since. And the blues doesn't feel overwhelming, as the subtleties in the different shades of blue ensure that one alley looks different from the other. One would be hard-pressed to escape from the blue until you step out of the medina, but there are spots where the underlying brown bricks become visible, as it was in this narrow residential alleyway, complete with a tall ladder also painted blue.
Chefchaouen
Morocco
