"Morocco Garden" .. Sefrou is the capital of water, green and cherry

Maryam Taidi - Morocco

Ample shades, fresh water, cool air, nicknamed the Little Paradise and the Garden of Morocco, the city of Sefrou, seated at the foot of the Middle Atlas at an altitude of 850 meters above sea level, 28 kilometers southeast of the city of Fez (central Morocco).

Its children still boast to this day a famous saying of the Sultan Mawlas Idris II, "I will leave from the city of Sefrou to the village of Fez" and consider it a testament to the ancient city and the nobility of their city.

A small-known city, with a rich history, apparent fertility, and a cherry festival of more than 100 years, it has become an international heritage heritage.

The foundation of the city of Sefrou dates back to the seventh century AD, and it was a city with high walls, doors and a fortified castle.

Historian Hassan Al-Shafi’i Al-Alawi, who is one of the sons of Sefrou (his doctorate about the history of Sefrou was discussed in the Sorbonne in January 1983) says the city of Sefrou was found before Fez (Fez was founded in the eighth century AD), and Maul Idris settled three years before moving to Medina Axe.

The history of the establishment of the city of Fez dates back to the end of the eighth century AD, during the coming of the first Idris I to Morocco in 789 AD, where the first nucleus of the city was built on the right bank of the Fez Valley in the Andalusian neighborhood.

In his conversation with Al-Jazeera Net, El-Shafei explains that Sefrou, by virtue of its geographical location, was a medieval station from which commercial convoys coming from northern Morocco and heading towards the Tafilalet, the Sahara Gate pass through.

Al-Shafei says that Sefrou formed a "place" in which she travels and used to be in the past on hotels and the foundations of civil life, which made it a vital commercial path.

Morocco Garden
A visitor to Sefrou sees his eyes extending over the fields surrounding the city and the richness of its vegetation, and its soul dances to the rhythm of the trickling waters of the Akai Valley, which cuts through the city and divides it on two banks, and sings bird birds on varicose veins. It was once based on agriculture and traditional industry.

Abdul Haq Gandhi, president of a civil society in Sefrou province, says that the main activities in Sefrou region are a variety of agricultural activities, including fruit trees and olives.

Gandhi adds, to Al Jazeera Net, that the region has a reservoir of surface and groundwater and fertile lands, and natural qualifications with a rare biological diversity that must be preserved and rehabilitated.

In the notes of the French social researcher Charles de Foucauld, "Getting to know Morocco", a unique description of the city says, "Charles de Foucault" ... you do not discover the city except when it reaches its doors because it is hidden among the trees .. It is vast and wonderful gardens that I have seen like only in Morocco, large, floating trees spreading their thick leaves over the ground in thick shade and fresh freshness .. In these gardens all the branches bear fruits and the surface is always green and flow in them and whisper with many springs "until he says" zero everything is prosperous and indicates progress. "

Cherry capital
Sefrou is considered the capital of cherry fruit (the love of kings), and it organizes an annual festival that is one of the oldest Moroccan festivals. Its first sessions began in 1919 on the occasion of reaping cherry fruit early summer. The celebration of the cherry festival is distinguished by the choice of the beauty queen and her bridesmaids miss.

Abdul Haq Gandhi says that the Festival of Love of Kings witnessed a boom in terms of quality, programs, radiation and the number of visitors, especially in the period between 2010 and 2015, which reflected on the local tourist movement and raised the number of economic transactions in the city.

The "Love of Kings Festival" was classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage for Humanity, on the list of the World Cultural Heritage in 2012.

Miss Cherry is chosen in a ceremony accompanied by Arab and Berber songs and a folk parade roaming the city's streets accompanied by the tones of folk music bands.

Cultural diversity
The city is known for the richness and diversity of its cultural heritage. The historian El-Shafei says that Sefrou was a fortified city, whose inhabitants lived within the walls, and had an internal organization, explaining that an important proportion of its residents were Jews, a large part of whom came from southern Morocco and settled in the city since its inception.

Sefrou has long been a refuge for most of the Moroccan Jews who have inhabited the city for more than 2000 years. Al-Shafei adds that Sefrou is surrounded by Berber tribes, which made her a model for coexistence between three components, the Arab Muslim and the Jews settled inside the city and the Berber element outside.

Al-Shafi’i considers that Sefrou possessed the components of the integrated city since ancient times, which prompted the French Protection Administration to classify it as one of the first municipalities in a municipal council like the major cities. Sefrou municipality was established in 1917.

Sefrou has been organizing an annual cultural forum since 1987, concerned with studying and discussing local and national issues.

The most important sectors of Sefrou are vital today, traditional crafts and crafts. Sefrou maintains within its walls cultural and historical monuments, the most important of which is the Maqam Gate and the blacksmiths.

Sefrou maintains an authentic lifestyle expressed by her creative fingers in silk art, kaftans, embroidery and cooking knots, and their craftsmen in carpentry, turnery, crafting, gypsum and plumbing.