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The Kingdom of Morocco is divided from the European mainland by the 15-kilometre wide Strait of Gibraltar. The country is tremendously interesting due to its variety of natural and social contrasts. It has the fertile plains stretching high at 4,000 metres, the peaks of the Atlas Mountains and green oases in the middle of an endless Sahara Desert. Morocco has a 3,000 km long seacoast that runs along the Atlantic Ocean and more than a 500-km long Mediterranean coastline. It has also breathtaking landscapes on the slopes of the Medium Atlas that so remind one of Alps scenery that Morocco is dubbed the 'African Switzerland'.
The head of state is King Mohammed VI, the successor of the famed Alaouite Dynasty that has been ruling the country for more than 350 years. A combination of modern and traditional reign makes Morocco an advanced country in every aspect.
The name Casablanca instantly rouses the most romantic memories due to the film of the same name featuring the unforgettable Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Today's Casablanca is a large pulsating city, a modern port and the biggest economic base in Morocco. Besides Casablanca, ancient cities like Rabat, Fez, Meknès, Marrakech and others bear witnesses to the development of the country and its rich cultural heritage.
The climate of Morocco is diverse; the big cities located in the Atlantic and Mediterranean zones, where the summers are long and hot summers and winters mild. The sight of approaching Marrakech in autumn, the glistening snow on the peaks of the Atlas while daily temperature at its foothill range from 20 to 25 degree Celsius, is absolutely magnificent.
Morocco is an important manufacturer of agricultural products and has a developed fish processing industry. However, the most important natural resources are phosphates (the first place in the world) and antimony (the second biggest in the world).
Handicraft in Morocco is still widely practiced. The development of this country with wonderful and friendly people (two thirds of its population are of Arab origin and one third are the Berbers) records expansion and in the last five years tourism has become one of quite important branches of industry.
A quick change from Europe to Africa results in a sort of cultural shock, usually if one wishes to get acquainted with the genuine Morocco and not with its polished image intended for tourists. Although the influence of Western Europe is clearly visible in Morocco, the roots of its society are set so deeply and in such a different way that one feels that almost nothing in this country can be possibly measured by the western standards. If you make a wide circle around this exciting country and in addition to the standard destinations, including the imperial cities of Fez, Meknès, Marrakech, Casablanca, the capital Rabat and the remnants of the ancient Volubilis, also visit the interior of the country, you will discover a fascinating Morocco. To embark on such a venture you have to cross over the Atlantic plain rising up to four thousand metres above sea level. Local customs, the way of living and communication is best to see on site, in contact with the local people. In the interior of Morocco it is amazing to watch the sand dunes of the Sahara Desert at sunrise or sunset. In contrast to big urban centres these rural parts of Morocco, where tourists are scarce, are much more interesting because they are actually the core of an authentic life that, for centuries, has served as an unchanged museum of people. To reach these regions you should set out from Marrakech towards the highest peaks of Atlas. The road after 200 kilometres across the plain suddenly gets narrower and is very curvy above 2,000 metres. From this place opens an endless woodless area dominated by the reddish shades of the bare mountain slopes. In such a landscape one sees a lot of small houses made of mud and straw that date from the beginning of time.
Behind the mountain protection, from time to time moustached youngsters stop you waving with sachets and crying: Marihuana! Hashish!
In this wilderness one can turn off the main road and enter Ait Ben- Hadu Kasbah, fully preserved, with no trace of any recent cultural changes. This village has been placed on UNESCO list of heritage sites and offers a most outstanding picture of authenticity. Owing to this, no wonder that it served as the setting for the movie Jesus of Nazareth. Locals are mostly Berbers, but the lingua franca, Arab and French, help them to speak about themselves and life in this region. Thus one learns that children of different sex are separated when they reach the age of 14 years and that marriages are arranged by their parents only several years later. As a rule, women only practice crafts and are real artists in creating carpets, which is their most important product.
Mystic fairytales are woven into ancient patterns of carpets that speak about the wishes and hopes of local women. A description of numerous Berber customs also includes their original music, actually a combination of African drums and singing in delirium of unrepressed emotions. After having toured these rural parts, a return to the urban atmosphere of cities is felt as a reverse shock of coming back to civilisation. Actually, what is the most precious in Morocco are Medinas, especially those of Fez, Meknès and Marrakech, so these cities are the most popular destinations representing the world's cultural heritage. Touring the Medinas takes one back to the vim and vigor of the medieval marketplaces and still surviving crafts, which today are also objects of trade and customary haggling.
These narrow labyrinths of bazaars where filigree, leather, crystal, jewelry, gold, silver, food of unusual tastes, fruits, vegetables, fish, seafood, sweets and plentiful of spices are offered, have served the same purpose for centuries – to sell and to earn. These labyrinths are today exciting obstacles for tourists as they form an irregular and winding labyrinth. One should only follow the thickest stream of people. Where this stream of people is thickest it usually leads to exit.
In some museums and Medersas there are stunning interior embellishments typical for the Moslem culture. The harmony, liveliness and beauty of these spaces are impossible to describe. There are imposing facades, beautiful fountains and gardens. Cities like Casablanca and Rabat are modern but at the same time abundant with cultural and historical monuments. The King Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is impressive not only by its unquestionable beauty but also by the fact that it is one of the biggest religious objects on Earth, which speaks a lot about the country itself as it cost Morocco six hundred million US dollars to build it. The Squares of Mohammed V and the United Nations, the residential quarters Anfa, the main market surrounded by old buildings, all of them are real pearls of this exotic city.
The important cultural-historical heritage of Rabat are beautiful squares and parks arranged in the European fashion, the Royal Palace typical for the Maghreb countries, the mausoleum of Mohammed V, and the old Bab Ruah Gate. Rabat is 160 km far from Volubilis, the most important Roman locality in Morocco. From it the road leads to Meknès (the distance between Volubilis and Meknès is 50 km), the city called "Versailles of Morocco". Meknès was fortified and embellished in the 17th century by its ruler Moulay Ismail.
The large square El Hedim and the Bab Mansour Gate, the most magnificent in Morocco, are genuine landmarks of this imperial city. The next important destination on the itinerary is the imperial city of Fez, 60 km from Meknès, the oldest imperial city in Morocco. Fez, founded in 808 by Idris II was for a long time the spiritual, commercial and cultural centre of the Islamic world. Cultural and religious monuments – the Medersas and mosques, bear witness to the rise of Fez and its past. Medina, actually the old Fez, surrounded by walls until the present day, as was in the past centuries, lives the same life. The old crafts and skills are preserved as if there were never industry; leather is here still hand-treated and it is interesting to watch workers treading heavily on leather inside stone holes in order to soften it. The last destination is Marrakech, 500 km from Fez. A day long journey to Marrakech, with stop at Beni Mellal, 626 m high above sea level in the heart of the Medium Atlas, is a singular experience. Break in Ifrane, the place on the slopes of the Medium Atlas, includes a tour of this pearl of south or more popular "red city". The great mosque with a 70- metre tall minaret, La Koutoubia, dating from the 12th century, the Saadian Tombs, gardens and pond of the Menara and Bahia Palaces, El Badi, all these are a true delight for eye and soul alike.
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A visit to the Marrakech Souk, the enjoyment in the evening happenings at the square Djemaa-El- Fna, where every day brings fantastic spectacles with fire eaters, fortune tellers, story readers and news spreads by word of mouth as if radio and television do and many other events that one can only admire, makes one ask oneself whether something like this really exists. Yes, all this is Morocco and the journey to this country offers enormous pleasure and enriches one's experience. | 
