Sights Archives ⋆ The Passenger

January 3, 2025January 4, 2025

Teide

The highest mountain of Spain can in fact not be found on the Spanish mainland, but on the island of Tenerife belonging to the Islas Canarias. The Teide is 3,715 meters high and of volcanic origin – the last erruption was in 1909. Surrounding the mountain you can find a beautiful national park and a caldera named Las Cañadas with a diameter of 17 kilometers. The Pico del Teide was also the holy mountain of the Guanche indigenious people who gave it the name Echeyde, El Teide is just the Spanish transformation of this name.

December 28, 2024December 30, 2024

Ghost town

If you’re into lost places or graffiti art you should consider a visit to the Sanatorio de Abona at Abades, on the southern coast of Tenerife. Leprosy reached the island rather late and in 1943 it was decided to create a sanatorio with all you need: from different houses via hospitals to a church in Franco style. Prior to finishing the construction works leprosy could be defeated and the sanatoria became superfluous. Not a single person moved and was treated there. As the buildings were never finished and repurposed, Abades is today a ghost town close to the shore and tourist houses.

December 27, 2024December 30, 2024

Drago milenario

The icon of the city of Icod de los Vinos is a very old ‘dragon tree‘ or Dracaena draco. These trees grow very slowely and in former times this large one was expected to be 3,000 years old – in fact it is growing close to the city center since 600-800 years, still impressive. The Drago is 16 meters high and has a circumfence of six meters. Its resin is blood red and the Guanche living first on the island treated the tree as their sanctuary and used the resin to cover their deceased. The tree has been declared a national monument in 1917.

November 10, 2024December 8, 2024

Jardín Ménara

Where do the locals of Marrakech spend their Sunday afternoons? A lot of them you can find in the relaxed atmosphere of the Jardín Ménara, a vast olive grove in the southwest of the city. Between these olive trees people gather for a picnic, play and make music. Food and drinks are sold on the ways leading through the garden and to the large water reservoir in its center. The garden was created in 1156 by the rulers of the Almohad caliphate and today belongs to the Marrakech UNESCO world heritage site.

November 9, 2024December 8, 2024

Oullywood

One of the most beautiful places of Morocco is Äit-Ben-Haddou, a traditional city with houses made of clay at the Asif Ounila river. It is a maze of streets, towers and houses in the desert which slowly turned from a real city into a movie industry hotspot and tourist location. Today still some people still live there, but preserving the hold houses is costly and housing comfort is better elsewhere. Those who stay, live from tourism and therefore preserve this magnificent place.

November 9, 2024December 8, 2024

Atlas

Being at northern Africa for the very first time also meant to correct some images about the continent in my head. Morocco I always connected with beaches and deserts, but never with mountains and skiing. While passing from Marrakech to Äit-Ben-Haddou I had the chance to see the reality while crossing the Atlas mountains. They’re 2300 kilometers long and reach from Morocco via Algeria to Tunesia – with the highest peak belonging to Morocco (the Toubkal, 4167 meters high – close to the highest peaks of the Alps).

November 8, 2024December 15, 2024

Tombeaux des Saardiens

The Saadi dynasty at Morocco lasted from 1554 to 1667. They took over rulership after the Wattasid dynasty ended after Andalucía was finally lost to Spain. The Saadis extended Marrakech, defeated the Portuguese and after leader Ahmad al-Mansur died they had to hand over power to the Alaouites. The necropolis of the Saadi kings can be found at Marrakech, close to the Moulay al-Yazid mosque (or ‘kasbah mosque‘ because of its shape), accessible through the beautiful Bab Agnou gate.

November 8, 2024December 15, 2024

Palais de l‘incomparable

You’ll need some imagination to understand the former beauty of the Palais El-Badi, formerly a wonder of the Islamic world, now a ruin. Saadi ruler Ahmad al-Mansur ordered the creation in 1578 with finest decorations and especially with a vast water basin in the Andalusian style of Granada – like the Patio de los Leones but on much greater scale and with four buildings surrounding the water: the Koublat el Hadra, Koublat ed Dahab, Koublat el Hayzudran and the Koublat el Hamsinija.

November 8, 2024December 15, 2024

Les milles nuits et une nuit

The Palais de la Bahia is the most beautiful palace of Marrakech, created at the end of the 19th century by Saadi grand vizier Si Moussa. It is one of the most visited sites of the city and unfortunately always full of tourists that enjoy the decorations made of marble, ceramic mosaics and cedar wood. Seven years were needed to finish this combination of rooms, gardens and courtyards. Most wonderful is the Grand Cour, a vast courtyard with a surrounding gallery.

November 8, 2024December 23, 2024

Eau de vie

The Medersa Ben Youssef is one of the most beautiful buildings of Marrakech and worth the effort of finding it in the medina north of the Jemaa el fna. It is an Islamic college with a large pool of water at its center and amazing decorations at its walls and roofs made of marble and cedar wood. The college dates back to the 14th century and was created in the style of the Marinid dynasty which was preserved when it was rebuilt during the Saadi dynasty in 1564. The Medersa Ben Youssef has three levels that you should consider exploring: on the first floor the rooms of the students can be visited, rather small cells.