Larache
| Larache العرائش ⵍⵄⵔⴰⵢⵛ |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||
| Basic data | |||||
| State : |
 Morocco
|
||||
| Region : | Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma | ||||
| Province : | Larache | ||||
| Coordinates | 35 ° 11 ′ N , 6 ° 9 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 125.008 (2014) | ||||
| Area : | 59.1 km² | ||||
| Population density : | 2,115 inhabitants per km² | ||||
| Height : | 50 m | ||||
 |
|||||
Larache (also Laraish , or El Araish ; Arabic العرائش al-Ara'ish , DMG al-ʿArāʾiš ; Central Atlas Tamazight ⵍⵄⵔⴰⵢⵛ Leɛrayc ) is a provincial capital and port city with approx. 140,000 inhabitants in the Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma region in northern Morocco .
Location and climate
Larache is located on an approx. 50 m high hill above the mouth of the Oued Loukos directly on the Atlantic Ocean and is connected to Tangier (approx. 90 km to the northeast) and the capital Rabat (approx. 172 km to the southwest) via the A1 and N1. Tétouan is about 115 km to the northeast. The climate is quite rainy by Moroccan standards; the average annual rainfall is around 665 mm and it falls mainly in the winter half-year.
population
| year | 1982 | 1994 | 2004 | 2014 |
| Residents | 63,893 | 90,400 | 107,371 | 125.008 |
Larache's inhabitants are mostly native or immigrant Berbers, but they have assimilated the Arabic-Moroccan language and culture. Differences between the population groups can hardly be recognized.
economy
Larache has a fishing port and a fish canning factory. Because of the beautiful beaches in the north of the city, bathing tourism has played an increasingly important role in recent years.
history
_p361_ELARAISH.jpg)
The remains of the originally Punic , later Roman settlement of Lixus have been found on a hill about 4 km northeast of the city . In the 1st century AD the area became Roman. In the 9th century the Beni Arous , a Berber tribe, immigrated to the area; they called the city El Araïch (the 'grapevines') - a name that has remained to this day.
In 1489 the Portuguese tried to take the city and its surroundings, but had to vacate the conquered area again in the same year. Between 1610 and 1689 it belonged to Spain . In the 18th and 19th centuries, Larache - like other Moroccan coastal cities - developed into a pirate's nest and was attacked twice (1829 and 1860) by European naval units. In 1829 the Europeans justified this with the hijacking of an Austrian merchant ship; the Moroccan corsairs wanted, as is customary in the so-called barbarian states , to sell the occupation as slaves. The Austrians dispatched several frigates from the naval port of Venice ; there was a sea blockade of the port of Larache and an artillery battle, which Austria won. Ships flying the Austrian flag were no longer attacked. From 1909 and finally from 1912 until the independence of Morocco in 1956, the city belonged to the protectorate of Spanish Morocco .
Attractions
- The circular Place de la Liberation , built in Spanish style, with its arcaded cafes, forms the center of Larache and at the same time the transition from the old town ( medina ) to the new town. An old city gate ( Bab-el-Khemis ) leads from the square directly into the medina to the elongated Socco de la Alcaiceria (also called Socco Chico ), the former market of the cloth merchants, where almost everything can be bought today.
- In addition, the mighty walls of the 'Storchenburg' ( Castillo de las Cigueñas ) are interesting, a fortress with bastions from Spanish times. A Spanish-Portuguese coat of arms (see web link) from the time of the personal union of the two countries (1580–1640) is emblazoned above the entrance to the former commandant's tower .
- The grave of the French poet Jean Genet is located in a cemetery located above the sea about 2 km south of the city center .
Personalities
- Jean Genet (1910–1986), French writer, buried in the Spanish cemetery in Larache
- Juan Goytisolo (1931–2017), Spanish writer, buried in Larache
See also
Cities on the Atlantic coast of Morocco with a temporary Portuguese or Spanish historical and cultural background are: Tangier , Asilah , Casablanca , El Jadida , Safi , Essaouira , Agadir and Sidi Ifni ; next to it Ceuta and Melilla on the Mediterranean coast.
literature
- Arnold Betten: Morocco. Antiquity, Berber Traditions and Islam - History, Art and Culture in the Maghreb. DuMont, Ostfildern 2009, pp. 211ff, ISBN 978-3-7701-3935-4
- Ingeborg Lehmann, Rita Henss u. a .: Morocco. Baedeker-Verlag, Ostfildern 2010, pp. 281ff, ISBN 978-3-8297-1251-4
Web links
- Larache - Photos and information (Engl.)
- Lixus - Photos and information (Engl.)
- Larache - fortress tower with coat of arms
Individual evidence
- ↑ Larache - climate tables
- ↑ Larache - population development etc.
- ^ Renate Basch-Ritter : Austria on all seas. History of the k. (U.) K. Kriegsmarine from 1382 to 1918. Styria, Graz 1995, p. 48, ISBN 3-222-11796-9
- ↑ Jean Genet's grave (video)