The Moroccan Town Drenched In Blue

When the townswomen gave their drab village a makeover, it turned Chefchaouen into one of the most unlikely – and successful – destinations in Morocco.

A female brainwave
Perched in the Rif Mountains of northern Morocco, the medieval village of Chefchaouen was once a place you drove through, not to. But then the women of the town had a – literally – bright idea to put it on the map.

Transforming the town
By painting the entire town medina blue, the townswomen transformed what had been a nondescript whistle stop on the old caravan route between Fez and Tangiers into one of the most unlikely – and successful – destinations in Morocco.

A new tradition
“The blue in Chefchaouen only started 20 years ago,” said local guide Abdeslam Mouden, who remembers the town once being predominately white. “Traditionally, only one area of the city was painted in blue, the old Jewish area. Now the whole old town is painted three times a year.

Unanswered questions
No one is sure why this little mountain stronghold drenched itself in blue. Some say that it’s a spiritual colour for Muslims and Jews, while others believe it’s a tribute to the mountain spring that makes the settlement possible in a forbidding landscape. Still others say the colour blue keeps mosquitoes at bay.

Urban renewal
Not only did the women start this tradition, but they continue it to this day with teams of two or three painting late at night when the rest of Chefchaouen is asleep. There is little sign of their work the next day, aside from drying paint.

Done by hand
To walk through Chefchaouen is to see how high a painter can reach; the ground floor is meticulously hued, but above, it is often the original white or bare stone.

Unfinished business
Not all of the medina has had a blue-over. The historic citadel retains the reddish-orange hue of its original stonework, and the mosque next door remains white – “but only because no one has painted it yet,” Mouden said.

Source:bbc.com