iEARN BRIDGE Program / My Identity , Your Identity: Historical Landmarks and Famous Places , Team B. Sidi Azouz High School , Taza , Morocco

1. iEARN
BRIDGE PROGRAM
TEAM B
Sidi Azouz High School , 2016/2017
Supervised By Mohammed Laaraj
MY IDENTITY, YOUR IDENTITY :
HISTORICAL LANDMARKS AND FAMOUS
PLACES IN TAZA , MOROCCO.

2. PARTICIPATING STUDENTS
Ahmed_Amine_Nouli
Hassana bouabid
Mohamed Khallouki
Fatimazahra Fessikh
Amina Dahmane
Zakaria Mansour
Driss Mghizal
Ouafae El Qati
Ayoub Touzani
Omar El Qati

4. Taza is a beautiful city located in the northeast of Morocco in the Taza corridor, a
mountain pass where the mountains of the Rif and the Middle Atlas meet, chief town
of the province of Taza. It is 315 km from Rabat and 230 km from Oujda.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF
TAZA

6. HISTORY OF TAZA
TAZA is supposed to have been inhabited as long as the
Paleolithic Period. The location of the city is very strategic and is
made of two separate towns. These towns are built on separate
terraces overlooking the mountain valley. The old town or the
medina ( Taza Al Oulya) is at 1919 feet and is fortified. It is rich
in historical landmarks. It is located in a mountain pass called as
the Taza Gap , a strategic position between the Rif and the Atlas
which has been the major point for invaders to move towards
the northwestern parts of Africa. Because of its being a
strategic point , it has seen many fights between many wanting to
spread their rule.

8. DYNASTIES AND TAZA
Taza passed in turn into the hands of the dynasties who
acceded to the head of Morocco.
In 1074 the Sultan Almoravid Youssef Ibn Tachfin took the
city. Taza remained under his authority throughout the
eleventh century and was abducted in 1132 by the Almohad
sultan Abd al-Mumin and declared provisional capital of
Morocco.
In the 17th century , the first Alaouite sultan, Moulay Rashid,
used Taza as a base for attaking Fes. Under Moulay Ismail ,
Taza served a fortress to prevent the Turks of Algeria from
using the Taza corridor to invade the country.

10. THE RAMPARTS OF TAZA
To fight against the Banu Marin of the
Zenetes, originating in the pre-Saharan
regions, who founded the Merinid dynasty
fifty years later, the Almohad sultan had a
wall built around the medina. The powerful
ramparts were reinforced in the fourteenth
century by the Merinids, then in the sixteenth
century by the Saadians.

16. AL BASTION OF TAZA
These walls were equipped with a bastion- Borj or
fortified tower-
(Al Bastion) that closes the ring around the Kasbah
by Ahmed Al Mansour Saadi in the 16th century. It is
26 metres (85 ft) wide at the base on each side and a
height of 13 to 20 meters . The iron gate and the
casemates with terraced roofs are clearly influenced by
European military architecture of the time.

19. AL BASTION
ARCHETECTURE
The thickness of the walls of the tower is 3 meters and 8
meters high. The Bastion tower (the main building in the
fortress of Taza) includes several warehouses for fuel, water
tanks and military equipment.
The tower is basically an artillery site; therefore, there are
seven shooting sites that can fire in three directions at once.
The large building is topped by two small towers, mainly
observation and aiming structures, and there are 13 shooting
rooms. The tower is located on a total area of 689 square
meters.

22. ROLES OF AL BASTION OF TAZA
The main roles have been both military and political,
mainly to repel the ottoman(Turkish) attacks from the
neighboring Algeria ( Morocco being the only country in
North Africa not to fall to the ottoman empire (the Turks).
Still, roles and functions of this fortified tower depended
on the fluctuation of the Moroccan political scene. It
served as an ammunition store , an artillery site, a logistic
support area, a military detachment and a control center for
the south-eastern spaces of Taza, along with the road
between the east and west of the country.

25. The Almohad mosques represent several exploits,
the oldest of which is the Grand Mosque of
Taza, which was built by Caliph 'Abd al-Mu'min
between 529 AH / 1134 AD and 536 AH / 1142
AD. The design of the mosque came in the shape
of a rectangle very close to the square. The
prayer hall is larger than its depth, 37.20 meters
long and 15.10 meters wide, occupying an area of
about 562 square meters
THE GRAND MOSQUE

32. In the hijri year of 693, the building of the Grand
Mosque of Taza finished and was ornamented by the
Great Chandelier of Taza, which weighs thirty-two
quintals and carries five hundred and fourteen cups, that
have been replaced by electric lamps. the chandelier was
placed in place in 1294 A.D and it is considered the
largest in the Islamic world with the height of four and
a half meters and a diameter of two and a half meters.
Its decoration is still rich and of great value. The cups
of the chandelier have been superbly preserved.
THE GREAT
CHANDELIER OF TAZA

35. One of the famous places in Taza region is the Friwato
Cavern in Tazekka National Park, some 13 kilometers to the
south of the city.
It is one of the deepest caves in the world 180 meters deep,
with more than 3.5 km of depth and with a network of
rooms and galleries.
The first stop, after the descent of a long staircase (702
steps), is a true showroom of all kinds of stalactites,
stalagmites and various concretions
THE FRIWATO CAVERN

39. This cavern opens to the air by a large
hole of 20 m. in diameter. Because of
the difficulty of access through this
opening, an oblique tunnel was built
on the slope of the mountain, allowing
access to the cave at mid-depth.
FRIWATO CAVERN

47. Taza is rich in historical
landmarks and natural beauty
that can not all be covered
here, so please visit Taza and
explore both history and
natural beauty at first hand.

48. Thank you !