Asilah
The city of Culture
Asilah, crossroads of cultures and civilizations. Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians and Portuguese. Obligatory step on the Saharan gold route.
Asilah is one of the strong points of Moroccan tourism in the north. A town on the edge of the sea with undoubted charm. In this section we expose the most interesting visits to the city.
The city
Asilah is known mainly for its long beaches of fine sand, its International Cultural Festival, its University and its Arab-African Cultural Forum, which takes place during the summer, creating an environment that attracts intellectuals and thinkers to the city, transforming it and calling it thus the attention of cultural tourism.
L to Medina of Asilah
The medina of Asilah is characterized by the luminosity of its sky, the constant sound of the sea in its streets and the salinity of its environment, which reminds us of the coastal towns of Cádiz. The streets are clean, well-kept and quiet, and are great for strolling.
The houses are white, adorned by mural paintings by the artists who visit it, some are being restored with beautiful Andalusian design, mixing white and indigo blue. The small and very clean mosques are completely painted white.
The walls that surround the city, restored several times, were built by Alfonso V of Portugal in the 15th century. They have several gates, the most important of which are Bab Homar or Tierra gate, under a tower, with the coat of arms of the King of Portugal, and the Sea Gate, together with the Portuguese square tower that dominates the entire city called Bab Kasba in Arabic. the north zone. It is surrounded by gardens and is in front of the Muslim cemetery, from where spectacular sunsets can be seen.
Asilah Cultural Festival
As a summer city, its cultural activity coincides with the summer, especially in July, with the Cultural Festival being held, with conferences and exhibitions and other cultural events.
An artistic and cultural festival, whose purpose is to establish dialogue and cultural exchange between different countries, the participants are usually politicians, diplomats, artists of different specialties, etc. Every year a guest country is invited to showcase its culture through conferences, art exhibitions, folk dances, etc.
It is typical of this festival that the walls of the whitewashed houses of the medina are artistically painted by the participating international artists .