Medina of Tétouan

I stayed in Tetuan from april the 15th to april the 17th,2024,two nights. I had been to Marrakech's(4 days) ,Meknes(2 days)',Rabat's(2 days),Essaouira s (1 day) and Fez(3 days) medina a few years before so that my expectations were influenced by my experiences. 

Tetuan's medina turned out to be a quite authentic one,a friendly one,an accessible one. Usually a medina in Morroco means to be careful, to run with foresight, to watch out for motorcycles and other obstacles, to scan potential dangers in advance, to be on the lookout, to beware of money-thirsty sharks and rabble of all kinds. Tetuan's medina is hassle-free and no maze witout any exit. 

I stayed two nights in the Riad "Soul of Tetuan" which turned out to be an excellent choice: just a stone's throw away from Bab Tut,one of the entrance gates to the medina. Whats more the riad 's manager was an amazing person. As soon as I arrived he told me that he would show me the medina after I have eaten. He was born in the medina,grew up there,and still lives there.He knew almost every inhabitant of the medina,every alley,every corner and every building. What was supposed to be a short tour through the medina turned out to be a more than 2,5 private tour through every hidden corner of that world unesco heritage site. 

After that free private tour I strolled alone through its magical streets till around 21.00,having a mint tea there,then a coffee in another …

It was nice to practice the little Spanish that remains in me in this medina. Filipinos certainly find this city of a particular interest as one of our colonial churches has a massive pediment relief beautifully portraying the Battle of Tetouan. Tetouan, however, easily pales in comparison to the royal capitals as no monument truly stands out there, but it delivers in showing how a smaller medina that has largely escaped developments looks like. It is noted for its supposed high authenticity (which means car parking even outside the walls can be a nightmare). It truly is hard to differentiate the medinas as they all look the same from the outside, so chances of seeing their unique propositions are better noticed and visualized in the interiors (it was still not easy to the untrained eye!). Hence, the earlier recommendation to stay in one of the traditional riads is one that I took without regret as it also allowed one to see the medina from the roof top across various times of the day.

My best memories were the early morning rounds when the medina was just waking up. In this regard, the Mellah and El Aioun were most interesting, and the Mellah was probably the Jewish quarter that I enjoyed the most in Morocco. While in there, the Ensanche should not be missed too. Any prospect of an Extension to include this grid-planned quarter would be a nod further to Tetouan's Hispanic connections.

It is easy to pit …

I visited this WHS in April 2018 as a long day trip from Rabat. Getting there was very easy with straight highway roads. I left very early (around sunrise) to make the most of my time in Tetouan.

The landscape of hills and mountains with white buildings stretches well away from the medina area and is immediately visible as you exit the highway. To park your car, there are several private parking lots where you have to leave the key but now there is also a huge public underground parking lot just in front of Place El Feddan and the medina itself.

From here, entrance to the medina is only on foot through a myriad of labyrintine narrow hole-in-the-wall alleys. I really enjoyed entering from one side and getting out from a completely different area. Whenever, I got 'lost' I just opted to walk upwards and deeper in the medina where there are plenty of lookout points over the white-washed houses. After a while, you easily get used to finding your way back to the main streets where all the merchants are. The added colour-coding to the different residential areas is pleasant for photography as it adds colours to the white buildings but it doesn't help that much to finding your bearings.

Unlike the other medinas in Morocco, Tetouan doesn't have lavish medersas or iconic minarets. However, the whole ensemble of this lively medina and the contrast between the medina and the colonial buildings in the newer part of town …

The Medina of Tetouan was the second goal of our 2017 WH Travellers Meetup. This Moroccan city can easily be reached on a day trip from the Spanish south coast. We did so by taking an early morning ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta, and then moved on by a pre-arranged minibus to Tetouan for the final 40km. Crossing the border proved to be easy for pedestrians, although the Iranian visa on the passports of some of our group raised a few eyebrows.

Tetouan always has been culturally close to Spain. The city derives its character from the arrival of Spanish-Arab refugees at the end of the 15th century when the last Jews and Muslims were expelled from Andalusia. Later on, it even was the capital of the Spanish protectorate of Morocco (1913-1956). A reminder of that is the early 20th-century church at the Moulay el Mehdi square in the modern part of town, where we were dropped off by our driver. A guide took us from there through a lively shopping street, until we arrived at the Hassan II square. This is fully fenced off, so as to not get too close to the Royal Palace which is the prominent feature of this square.

The old city starts right behind the palace, and that’s probably where we entered the core zone of the WHS. It isn’t 100% clear which parts of Tetouan are actually included, thanks to probably the worst map ever available on the UNESCO website. But …

Visited January 2017

It would be a shame not to visit Tetouan during our travel in Andalusia, Spain. On last day of 2016 we took a ferry from Algeciras to Tangier Med, it is only 90 minutes. There’s no public transport from the ferry port but to Tetouan, so we decide to hire a taxi. We passed through the beautiful Rif mountains and after one hour drive we reach Place Moulay El Mehdi, the best starting point.

Our hotel was located in the middle of medina. It’s called Riad Dalia, and this used to be Dfouf family house with an inner courtyard of four columns and arches corresponding to the architecture of 18th century. The views from the rooftop are amazing! And the restaurant – highly recommended; you can try different dishes and taste the real Moroccan cuisine.

If we had no guide, we would never have found this hotel because the streets and alleys pattern of the old city is like a labyrinth! Well, it is not as big as other medinas in Morocco, but it is very easy to lose yourself. And do it! Everywhere little shops, roofed alleys, lots of friendly people (mostly men, and they are not trying to cheat on you, ‘cos there a not many tourists there) wearing long cloths…

Just walk around, go to the Casba, see the cemetery and some hammams and mosques from outside (non-Muslim are not allowed to get in). If you reach the old Jewish neighbourhood of Mellah al-Jadid, …

I visited Tetouan in 1999 on a guided tour. It was only a short guided day trip into the Medina after 8 days in Spain through a University art tour. It will forever be engrained in my mind. Although I would forgo a tour guide should I visit again, it was spectacular. The sights and sounds as we walked through the Medina...well incredible. Their was a little girl that followed us around for what seemed like miles of weaving amidst the walls. Our tour guide clearly had a mission to get us to a rug shop. If I did it over again I'd do it alone, so I could wander. Doing it over again what would I do different? I'd stop and at least peep into the magnificence of the temples, synagogues, and mosques and stop to talk to the people. Wow, what a magnificent city, full of thousands of years of cultural influences. It really was beautiful and I will never forget the sights and sounds that can only be seen through a personal visit.

Travelling from Tangier to Tetouan by bus involved crossing the scenic Rif Mountains.

The medina here is quite compact but crammed with the tiled fascades of numerous mosques, medressahs, mausolea and fountains.

When I went to Tetouan, it was very windy. It had been awhile since I had last been in a medina and it felt nice to be back.

We ran into someone who ended up being a nice guide and showed us all around the medina and gave us a good tour of the medina. He educated us well about Morocco too, and brought us to a nice-looking restaurant to eat traditional Moroccan food.

I previously heard Tetouan has a small medina, but that was not the impression I got. Tetouan is also not as dirty as I heard it was. There is nothing wrong with the site at all, and I had a great experience there.

On my first trip to Andalucia I had also ventured for a day trip to Tangiers. I am not sure if it had occurred to me at the time that Tetouan had been within reach from Algeciras. Or if I had known but was too afraid to venture off the beaten path. For years since I had considered Tetouan as one of my stupid near misses. So when Ian proposed this year’s meetup in Gibraltar, I knew exactly what I wanted to do: Cross into Morocco and tick off Tetouan. 

We quickly agreed to include the site in the itinerary of the 2017 meetup. As a consequence we now have the first meeting to take place in multiple countries (Spain, UK, Morocco) and outside Europe. Philipp and Els did the actual planning and it worked out perfectly fine. Many thanks!

Tetouan itself is a pleasant medina. It’s not very touristy. We only met one larger group roaming the narrow streets of the medina. The medina primarily serves as market for the local populace with very few souvenir shops. As such you will probably get a more authentic Moroccan experience than in places such as Fez or Marrakech or in nearby Tangiers. Personally, I also liked the colonial new town. Tetouan was the seat of the Spanish protectorate government of the province and it has plenty of colonial buildings to show for it.

The trip left me wanting to see more of Morocco and …