Taza

Taza (Arabic تازة ) is located between the Rif and Middle Atlas a city in Morocco, about 100 kilometers east of Fez. The approximately 400 to 600 meters, the city has about 155,000 inhabitants and is the capital of the province of Taza. The name is probably derived from the Tamazight word tizi for " hill " or " pass ". The medina of Taza and the Great Mosque of Taza are on the list of suggestions for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995.

Location

Taza is located in the north- east of Morocco from the southern foothills of the Rif mountain range and the northern foothills of the Middle Atlas. The older part of town ( medina) is just 600 meters above sea level and is surrounded by a fortified wall made ​​of rammed earth. The newer part of town, founded by the French in 1920, is located in a fertile valley at an altitude of about 400 meters. The location of Taza made ​​the city an important place on the east -west connection that has already been used in prehistoric times, after which point the fossil record. In Roman and Islamic times, the valley of Taza militarily and as a trade route was of great importance: they presented the main route to the fertile plains on the Atlantic coast dar. Also during the French colonial period (1914-1956) and then played the only east-west connection an important role in northern Morocco; Since 2011 connects to a Taza of motorway the central highlands of Morocco - and the cities of Rabat, Meknes and Fez - Oujda and Nador with the industrial centers of the Northeast.

Population

The majority of the inhabitants are Berber Tazas; most of them have left their home villages only since the 1970s, hoping to find in the big city working as day laborers, taxi drivers, small traders etc.. Leading positions in administration, commerce, banking and industry as well as in transport, education and health care are, however, in the hands of Arab -born persons make up the total population only a fraction of about 20%. Berbers and Arabs talking among themselves mostly Moroccan - Arabic.

History

Taza was founded around the year 700 of Miknasa Berbers and was continually contested due to its strategic location. After the spread of Islam in the western Maghreb, the balance of power constantly alternated between the various dynasties of the young, unconsolidated Islam and the (already Islamized ) Berber tribes (the reign of Idrisids, uprising of Maysara to 740, during the Fatimid period, rebellion under Abu Yazid to 944 ). In 1074 the city fell to the Almoravids under Yusuf ibn Tashfin and about 65 years later ( under Abd al - Mu'min ) to the Almohad who built the first fortress wall around the city and they - to the capture of Marrakech ( 1147 ) - made ​​it their capital. There were other Berber tribes ( Marinids, Wattasids ), as well as the - probably Arab descent - the Saadian dynasty and Alawites. The latter were able to retain control of Morocco while, but ran the country since the 18th/19th. Century increasingly under European influence.

1903 took over Jilani Zerhouni ( Bou Hamara ), returning from Algerian exile, under a false identity ( Moulay Mohamed ) power over Taza. He sold Erzabbaurechte in the Rif massif to a Spanish company ( Compañía Española de Minas del Rif ) and in 1908 kidnapped by rival Berbers what the Rifkrieg mitauslöste.

On May 10, 1914 Taza French protectorate and remained until the independence of Morocco (1956 ) under French influence.

Attractions

Medina

European tourists rarely find their way to Taza and so the Medina with its - often extending at right angles streets - have remained relatively pristine, without being able to keep up with the atmosphere of Fez. Nevertheless, a short stay worth: On the main street of the old town you will find the grain market and the souks, where wickerwork, tapestries, jewelery and handicrafts of the Berbers are offered from the surrounding mountains. The road leading to the parade ground and the Grand Mosque, which ( as the minaret ) still comes in large part from the 12th century. The road crosses the Bab el - Qebbour Kissaria ( covered market ) and then leads to market mosque, where it meets the Bab Jamaa gate, the main entrance to the medina of Taza. A little further south, on the other hand - not far from the Grand Mosque - closes the Bab el- Rih ( "Gate of the Wind" ), a bastion dating from the 16th century, the ring around the kasbah. Tazas city wall, which was built in the 12th century and often reinforced in subsequent occasions, was provided by the Saadian Ahmad al - Mansur with a Borj, a fortified tower, 26 meters wide in the 16th century. The gate with iron grate and the casemates with terraced roofs clearly show the influences of European military architecture of the time.

Environment

Only about 14 km south of Taza is the Chasm you Friouato (see web link), the only undeveloped for visitors limestone cave in Morocco. At a distance of approximately 35 km of the National Park of the 1980 meter high Jebel Tazzeka pulls (see web link) with its cedar and cork oak forests, gorges, caves and waterfalls especially Moroccan tourists. Once the summit offers a magnificent view of the surrounding mountain landscape.

Twin Cities

  • France Dole (France), since 2007
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina Srebrenica (Bosnia -Herzegovina), since 2010
763299
de