Chefchaoen, Morocco is Blue, but not sad

June 26, 2011 12:17 PM

All Azure: The Monochromatic City of Chefchaoen, Morocco
posted by hippybear (21 comments total)

Funny you should post this. Just last night I was listening to the adhān and fantasizing about jumping a plane there.
posted by mykescipark at 12:21 PM on June 26, 2011

The city offers handicrafts that aren’t available in other areas of Morocco, such as wool garments and blankets, and is also one of the main producers of cannabis in the nation.

Emphasis mine.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:32 PM on June 26, 2011

Beautiful! It reminded me of Guanajuato, Mexico, which is as multicolored as Chefchaoen is monochromatic.
posted by Phatty Lumpkin at 12:38 PM on June 26, 2011 [1 favorite]

I bet the Chroma-Key guy shits his pants when they do a remote shot there.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2011 [5 favorites]

I just visited about a month ago. Highly recommended, beautiful city, wonderful people. The hiking is astounding, not too hard to get to from Tangiers.
posted by chainlinkspiral at 12:45 PM on June 26, 2011

See also - the Blue City of Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
posted by Rash at 1:11 PM on June 26, 2011

See also also: Udaipur the white, Jaipur the pink, and Jaisalmer the gold.
posted by psoas at 1:40 PM on June 26, 2011

Jodhpur in Rajasthan
Jaipur the pink

Which were both used as filming locations for The Fall.
posted by -jf- at 2:14 PM on June 26, 2011

Nitpick: The traditional Jewish dye is tekhelet, not *tekhelel.
posted by vasi at 2:14 PM on June 26, 2011

This was awesome, thank you.
posted by nev at 2:41 PM on June 26, 2011

MUCH better photo set here
posted by puny human at 2:50 PM on June 26, 2011 [3 favorites]

i need to go there, like NOW
posted by liza at 3:24 PM on June 26, 2011

I just blue myself.
posted by freecellwizard at 3:28 PM on June 26, 2011 [4 favorites]

When I was in kindergarten or first grade, I had to color a city scene as part of a class assignment. Even as a young'n, I knew this was stupid (or, I was lazy): I colored the entire thing with one turquoise crayon, and was quickly reprimanded by the teacher. If I only I would have known about this place; I could have said I was painting a Chefchaoen cityscape.
posted by dhens at 4:41 PM on June 26, 2011

Marrakesh is "The Red City."
posted by Morrigan at 4:57 PM on June 26, 2011

See also - the Blue City of Jodhpur in Rajasthan.

By visiting the linked site, you are actually also seeing Jodhpur. This photo is of Jodhpur.
posted by jessssse at 6:05 PM on June 26, 2011

Beautiful! It reminded me of Guanajuato, Mexico, which is as multicolored as Chefchaoen is monochromatic.

I can't find pictures, but the brightly colored houses on hills reminds me of the southern parts of San Francisco, the parts are that you pass through on the way to the airport via BART.

(This might actually be, um, Daly City that I'm talking about. I don't know where anything is on the Peninsula.)
posted by madcaptenor at 7:21 PM on June 26, 2011

This is a profoundly beautiful place - great post.

I would make my city orange. Are there any already?
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 7:51 PM on June 26, 2011

I would make my city orange. Are there any already?

Driving south in Morocco towards Western Sahara some 15-odd years ago, I remember there being monochromatically orange towns and yellow towns and white towns. Not as striking as this big blue city, but still pretty great.
posted by queensissy at 10:44 PM on June 26, 2011

I'm thirsty now.
posted by Goofyy at 6:23 AM on June 27, 2011

I visited Chefchaouen in January and loved it. There are a lot accessible hikes in the area leading to stunning views of the blue buildings perched among the Rif mountains. The souk is more intimate than some of those in the larger tourism cities, though you'll have to fend off many a young marijuana-seller (assuming you don't intend on purchasing Chefchaouen's entire pot supply).

But as far as natural pigments on stucco walls go, I think I preferred the Santa Catalina convent in Arequipa, Peru. Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures online that do it justice...

Wow! I finally have something to say on MetaFilter!
posted by lllama at 12:08 PM on June 27, 2011