Sefrou Medina

The medina at Sefrou is one of the least-touristed in Morocco, and it shows — in the best possible way. There are no stalls selling carpets to foreigners, no persistent guides, no cafes with English menus. Instead there is a working town going about its business: butchers, spice sellers, a few modest cafes, and the ordinary daily life of a medium-sized Moroccan city.

The walls and gates are intact, and the covered alleyways inside are dark and cool. The souk area near the main gate has a pleasant chaos on weekday mornings. The river Oued Aggai cuts through the centre of town, with bridges crossing between the old city and the surrounding hillsides. Follow the water and you will find much of what is interesting in Sefrou.

Thursday is the weekly market day, when traders come in from outlying villages and the town is noticeably livelier than usual.

things to do sight neighbourhood
A story
Sefrou was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Morocco — at its peak, Jews made up roughly a third of the population. When most of the community departed for Israel in 1967, they left behind a well-preserved Mellah and a medina that has remained largely unchanged, since there was never enough tourist money to "restore" it into something it wasn't.