A Trip to Taroudant – Morocco’s Medieval City
By: Habeeb Salloum/Arab America Contributing Writer
“Where is the cleanliness of Agadir?”, I remarked to my daughter as we made our way through garbage-littered lush green countryside on our way to Taroudant, Morocco’s medieval city. Like most Third World countries where the tourists play, that resort was clean, but beyond, people lived amid the litter of the 20th century. Apparently, with poverty and illiteracy – only about 50% of Moroccans can read and write – comes the refuse of the modern world which usually is only cleaned in the tourist areas.
On the road to Taroudant which crosses the High Atlas to Marrakesh, we passed village after village surrounded by citrus groves dotted with gardens, fields of grain and hot houses were bananas, roses and tomatoes are grown year-round. The entire Sous Valley, famous for its succulent oranges, through which we were driving, is usually irrigated from a large dam, but this year the winter rains had been abundant, and the countryside appeared like one large luxuriant flourishing garden.
As Taroudant drew near, the cultivated fields gave way to a land covered with argan trees part of the 700,000 ha (283,400 ac) area in southern Morocco where this tree grows. Strangely, the only other place in the world in which it flourishes is Mexico where it grows wild and only its wood is utilized. In Morocco, its wood is used in construction and an oil extracted from its fruit is used in cooking and to treat rheumatism. Also, goats thrive on its leaves. As we traveled, every once in a while, we would see goats perched on the branches, seemingly like huge black fruit, chewing the tender top leaves.
The argans were followed by dense groves of olives and palms. These hid Taroudant, called by some ‘a miniature Marrakesh’, from view until we were a short distance from its towering pinkish ramparts. At the first glimpse through the branches, I remembered the bard who wrote “O! Taroudant! O! Rose between the olives!”
A fantastic town from the medieval Moroccan world, Taroudant gets its name from a legend about a holy woman who once lived where the city now stands. She was renowned for her caring of homeless children and feeding the caravan traders who passed her way. After a great flood, some traders passed her home, but did not see any children. When they asked her, “What happened to the children?”, she is reported to have said, “Tar wa dunt”, in Berber meaning, “the children are gone” (died in the flood) – which became Taroudant.
One of Morocco’s oldest towns, the city was a thriving center in 1030 A.D., thirty years before the founding of Marrakesh. It was an important urban center under the Almoravide and Almohade Dynasties and for 20 years under this Saadiens it was the capital of Morocco. A number of its buildings, souks and its famous ramparts go back to that era.
Situated between the High Atlas and Anti Atlas, 250 k (155 mi) southwest of Marrakesh and 90 km (56 mi) east of Agadir, Taroudant historically controlled the trade between these mountain ranges. The oldest city in the Sous Valley, it has been the hub of commerce in that part of the country for hundreds of years. Berbers have been coming down for centuries from the surrounding mountains to barter and purchase their daily needs from its souks exotic marketplaces which have been fairly altered since the Middle Ages.
Taroudant is the only city in Morocco and, perhaps, in the entire world which still lives within its medieval walls. Kept in good repairs, three majestic ramparts have been preserved intact in a museum-like fashion. Its 60,000 inhabitants with their gardens and picturesque pink homes – a colour which the inhabitants believe dims the reflection of the sun – remain encased in these enormous crenelated walls.
Like most visitors to this historic town, we parked our auto in Place Assarag, the central square from which the maze of souks begins. Following other tourists, we wandered through the clean and colourful narrow alleyways, stopping here and there to watch craftsmen manufacturing their age-old products. Silver brooches, adorned daggers, necklaces, and rings were being produced by jewelers as if they were coming off modern assembly lines. Further on, jallabah and kaftan makers, metal artisans and stone carvers were busy at work in the fashion of their ancestors. Alongside, spice merchants with products diffusing heavenly aromas and grocers selling innumerable types of dates, took one back to the medieval centuries. Prices here are said to be the lowest in Morocco -ideal for tourists seeking bargains. Yet, strangely, even though Agadir is overflowing with visitors, only a few come to this walled town.
From the medieval world, we drove back through the main gate, then a short distance along the ramparts to hotel Salem – entered by means of a door in the walls. A former 18th century sultan’s palace, this Andalusian- Moorish style abode appeared to come out of the Arabian Nights. Its huge courtyard filled with lush tropical gardens, rooms hidden behind towering trees and blooming flowers gave it an enchanting ambience. To this botanic calmness, once enjoyed by the sultans, a modern swimming pool had been added. Surrounded by palm trees and flowers, it appeared like a pleasant 20th century invasion into the world of history.
Besides its serene waters, under the shade of palms, we relaxed for a while. Here, it was easy to dream of Taroudant when it was the capital and leading city in Morocco – known then and today as the ‘Pearl of the Sous Valley’.