The Jewish Heritage 

13 Days/11Nights

DAY1- New York / Casablanca

Board your overnight transatlantic flight, dinner and breakfast will be served on the flight.

DAY2- Casablanca/Rabat 
Arrival at Casablanca airport-Mohammed V, meet your guide, transfer to Rabat, hotel check-in.Rabat is the capital city of Morocco where evidence of a Jewish community was found by the Excavations of the Roman settlments of Sala Colonia. In the el Bhira, historical sources gave a continued presence of a Jewish community in Rabat since 1492 till the establishment of the Mellah in 1807. This Mellah, with narrow lanes and colorful courtyards is still home of a few Jewish families. Continue to Sale, the sister town of Rabat and the birthplace of Rabbi Hayim Ben Moses Attar, a great 18th century scholar and cabbalist. Points of interest visited: The ruins of Chellah, the square of the mausoleum Mohammed V and Hassan Tower, Mellah, Oudaya Kasbah, view on the King Palace and Salé.  overnight in Rabat. Lunch on your own. Dinner included in the half board basis.

DAY3- Rabat / Tanger via Larache, Asilah et Cap Spartel

Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to Tangier passing by Larache, Asilah and continue to Cap Spartel before ending to Tangier. Sightseeing tour of Tangier. The Rue des Synagogues represents a prime example of a compact unit of immense cultural importance with a great number of houses of worship, not all opened to the public. Other interesting points in Tangier are: the old Jewish cemetery and the <<Oued lhoud>>, which is the bay where Jewish exiles landed from Spain. Lunch on your own. Dinner included in the half board and overnight at the hotel.

DAY4 - Tanger / Tétouan / Chefchaouen
After breakfast, additional sightseeing in the morning. Departure for Tetouan. Sightseeing tour of the city. In 1492, when the Jews were expulsed from Spain, Tetouan welcomed a large Jewish community, and was for many centuries the intellectual and religious center of the North of Morocco. The Tetouan Mellah, built in the traditional Andalusian style in 1808 is the only one, apart from the new Mellah of Meknes built more than a century later, that still houses a majority of the resident community, who continue to maintain their Hebrew Spanish language, traditions and customs. In the Mellah the most historic synagogue is the Synagogue Rabbi Isaac Ben Gualid. Continue to Chefchaouen a very typical village that you will enjoy walking through and where you will overnight. Dinner included in the half board. (Lunch on your own)

DAY5 - Chefchaouen / Ouezzane / Fès
Breakfast at the hotel and transfer to Fez via the Rif Mountains and Ouezzane, a town controlled by an important Muslim fraternity who encourage Jewish traders and agriculturists to live near-by. East to Ouezzane is the village of Azjen, where the tomb of the most important Jewish saint, Amram Ben Diwane, can be found. Ouezzane together with Azjen is considered a holy city by the Jewish community in Morocco. Continue to Fez, arrival at the hotel, check-in, dinner included in the half board basis and overnight. (Lunch on your own).

DAY6 - Fès
After breakfast, the whole day will be dedicated to the visit of the imperial city. Fez, world's great centers of Jewish learning, is among the best known cities in medieval Jewish history. Throughout Fez El Bali, the Fez old city, traces of ancient Jewish life can be found, including the home of one of the most influential Talmudic scholars of all times, the eleventh century sage, Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, as well as of Maimonides who lived here from 1159 to 1165. Suffering from the persecutions of the Almohad dynasty, Maimonides emigrated to escape forced conversion. Fez Mellah is over 650 years old and is located in the neighborhood of the king palace. Houses in Mellah quarter display marvelous wooden work on their balcony, windows which are a precious art. Lunch on your. Dinner and overnight at hotel.

DAY7- Fès / Meknès / Volubilis / Fès
After breakfast, departure for Meknes. The Jewish settlement in the region of Meknes is truly ancient, as demonstrated by the Hebrew epitaph believed to date from the third century C.E. and a Greek inscription relating to the local Synagogue, both discovered at Volubilis a very well preserved roman city close by Meknes which you will visit the ruins during the day. 18.000 Jewish inhabitants were recorded in Meknes in 1950, now the community turns around of 200. The cemetery of the old Mellah, is notable for the pilgrimage sites because of the tomb of the Patron of Meknes; Rabbi' David Benmidan. The new Mellah is remarkable for its many streets with Jewish names. It is only in Meknes that Jews decided to create a new Mellah after the French Protectorate. Dinner and overnight at hotel in fez. Lunch own your own

DAY8- Fès / Casablanca
Breakfast at the hotel and departure for Casablanca. Afternoon at leisure. Dinner and overnight at hotel. Lunch on your own.

DAY9- Casablanca / Marrakesh.
After breakfast, departure for Marrakesh. Afternoon sightseeing tour of the city. The Saadian dynasty, which made Marrakesh their capital, designated a large area adjoining the EI Badii Palace as a Mellah. The Marrakesh Mellah is dating back from 1550. It became the home of a thriving community of native and Spanish Jews, famed for its rabbinical schools and scholars. The Marrakesh cemetery adjacent to the Mellah is the burial place of the venerated Rabbi Hanania Hacohen known as the Patron of Marrakesh. Check-in at the hotel. Dinner included in the half board basis at the hotel. (Moroccan dinner with fantasia show possible in option). Lunch on your own in Marrakesh during the day.

DAY 10- Marrakesh

After breakfast, day at leisure. Lunch on your own. Dinner and overnight at the hotel. 

DAY 11- Marrakesh / Casablanca via Essaouira
After breakfast, departure for Casablanca via Essaouira which has held an important position in Moroccan Jewish history since the early nineteenth century, and for over a hundred years one of the wealthiest and most cultures Jewish communities in Morocco. Lunch on your own in Essaouira. Then continue to Casablanca via Safi. The origins of Safi's substantial community go back at least the fourteenth century. The influential Benzamero family was living in Safi. In the north of the medina, is the Mellah located. Your route proceeds then via El Jadida. Expelled during the Portuguese inquisition, the Jews returned to El Jadida at the time of the Muslim Victory in 1769. The Mellah dating from 1821, is situated in the old Portuguese city. Dinner and overnight at hotel in Casablanca.

DAY 12- Casablanca 
Breakfast at the hotel. Orientation tour in the morning of Casablanca with the Habous quarter, the United Nations square, the Royal Palace (from outside), Hassan II mosque from outside (optional internal visit, only during the visit schedule established). The Jewish community contributed to the construction of this Mosque, which was inaugurated in 1994. Casablanca has the largest Jewish community of any city in the entire Arab World. The vigorous community of Casablanca has numerous congregations, active communal institutions. Beth El is the largest synagogue in the city. Afternoon free, lunch on your own. Dinner and overnight in the hotel.

DAY 13- Casablanca / Aéroport 
Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Casablanca Mohamed V Airport.

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