Fez
As the oldest of three imperial cities founded in 790 BC by Moulay Idriss II, Fez is the cultural and spiritual centre of Morocco. The old part of the city is rich with historical relics as it has been continuously inhabited since the 10th century. Explore your way through the busy throng of brightly attired tribal warriors, industrious merchants, traditional bell-ringing water sellers, olive dealers and veiled women your way to the medieval Medina. The Medina of Fez was well preserved under French occupation and is the most complete medieval city still in existence, which forms a working model of a more youthful world. Fez also has a more modern section to the city called Ville Nouvelle, which has a strong French influence added to its streets.
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Marrakech
Marrakech is the most visited of Morocco's three Imperial Cities, with an enchanting fairytale quality, which brings thousands of sightseers to the city. Medina (the old city) is like stepping into a medieval 'Arabian nights', with winding alleyways and souks at every turn. Djemaa el-Fna is in the heart of Medina and is the place where everything seems to happen and the square draws tourists to it, with its carnival-like environment. Blending with the older parts of the city, which were once made up by the Berber Atlas tribes, Saharan nomads and Mahgrebis from the plains. Marrakech also has a more modern side to it, where luxury hotels, banks and businesses form a modern metropolis and the streets are bursting with busy traffic and motor scooters.
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Agadir
The new and modern city of Agadir is just south of Marrakech and with magnificent sandy beaches it is fast developing into Morocco's major resort town. After an earthquake in 1961 that killed fifteen thousand people, most of Agadir's historic heritage was wiped out. Originally an important seaport and centre for caravans traversing the Sahara, the city has now been rebuilt and modelled to be a tourist destination and fishing port. With three hundred days of sunshine a year and twenty thousand hotel beds, Agadir takes on a quarter of the tourism trade in Morocco and is favoured for luxury package holidays and as a starting point for excursions into the desert.
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Rabat
The capital of Morocco is a far cry from the hectic warrens of Marrakech and Fez. Rabat is a modern city, with many gardens, wide boulevards and brightly lit with white buildings. However historically it dates back to the 7th century, with a Medina and the Kasbah adding local colour. The King of Morocco resides in the palace in Rabat and as the administrative capital city; it is a serious and conservative place. Luxury abounds with a world-renowned golf course called the Dar Es Salaam Course and as the city sits on the mouth of the Bou Regreg River at the Atlantic coastal plain opposite the city of Sale there are some panoramic beaches complete to holiday experience.
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