Taroudant

Taroudant (Tifinagh: , Arab: تارودانت) is a city of the south of the Morocco located in the plain of the Under, and place chief of the province of the same name. In 2005, it counted 63000 inhabitants.

Geography

The city is to 80 km of Agadir, along the river Under Taroudant (or Taroudannt, to pronounce “ Taroudannte ”) is at the same time a province (department) and the name of a city of Morocco. The origin of this word is enigmatic: Certain legends associates it with a Syrian princess who settled in the area and which bore the name of " the Roudana" Queen; , others explain it by the Berber sentence " Taroua Eddanète" who wants to say " The children were carried (by water) " who is a warning statement against the risings of the Oued river Under which skirts the city.

Taroudant is located in the plain of Under which is surrounded by two assembly lines Large- theAtlas (the province of Taroudannt counts the largest mountain of North Africa: The Mount Toubkal Jebel Toubkal 4.167m) in north and the east and the anti-Atlas in the south, in the west it opens on the Atlantic. This plain, fertile is crossed by the Wadi Under which skirts the city. Taroudannt is located at 80 km in the east of Agadir and at approximately 250 km in the south of Marrakech.

ayoub elhamdaoui

History

It is one of the oldest cities Morocco. It was a center of the fight of Berber against the Roman occupation and was devastated for this reason by the Romans. Taroudant is in XIe century the capital of a small Shiite kingdom (kingdom of Bajjalis). Annexed by the Almoravides in 1056, independent under the Almohades, it is destroyed in 1306 by Mérinides. She knows her apogee in XVIe century under the influence of Mohammed ech-Sheik Saadi which makes of it its capital and a base for its offensives against the Portuguese installed in Agadir. She then becomes a center caravaneer important, famous for the abundance and the quality of her goods: sweeten, cotton, rice, etc At the XVIIe century, Taroudant is under the domination of the kingdom of Tazeroualt, the area located between Tiznit and Tafraoute and, for this reason, the privileged target of the military forwardings carried out by the sultans alaouites. In 1687, the sultan Moulay Ismaïl even makes massacre most of the population for his support for his nephew, the applicant rebels Ahmed Ben Mahriz. Like all the area, Taroudant suffers from the closing of the wearing of Agadir. It is folded up behind its ramparts until 1912, date on which the El-Hiba rebel makes city the seat of his resistance against the French Army until 1914.

The population of Taroudant is considered proud and critical. In reprisals, the city was mainly destroyed on several occasions. The king would never have crossed his doors by fear of the rebellious mood of his inhabitants. Taroudant is however known for its direction of the reception, the kindness of its tradesmen.

Economy

Taroudant is famous for its production of citrus fruits (primarily oranges and clementines), for the oil of Argan specific to the area and the olive oil, for the craft industry (very varied, the work of cooking, tannery, pottery. .etc) and its splendid landscapes.

The Small Taxis are of color coffees to milk

Communes: Talmakant (douar Tizzerte)

ramparts

The city was a capital of the Dynastie saadienne. It in addition accommodates holy tombs for the Juifs.

The town of Taroundant is defended by 7,5 km of ramparts in which are imbricated 130 turns and 19 bastions of angle connected the ones to the others by a covered way, which made this city an impregnable citadel.

The ramparts allow the passage by five arched doors of Moorish architecture laid out mainly with the cardinal points.

These doors are called:

Bab Al-kasbah
Bab Zorgan
Bab Targhount
Bab Oulad Bounouna
Bab El khemis

in the surroundings

Tiout

Small village located at 20 km of Taroudant, Tiout is perched on a small piton east overhangs a very pretty palm plantation.

Approximately 3000 inhabitants live around this sea of greenery and live culture of the irrigated gardens and breeding of the chêvres.

Very beautiful ballades with back of mules are offered to the tourists and a local inn offers excellent a Tagine of chicken to lemon.

External bonds

ramparts of Taroudant (Morocco of the South)

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