Sefrou

A miniature Fez at an altitude of 2,900 feet, the small town of Sefrou lies in the fertile valley of the River Agdal. Once known as the Jardin du Maroc, it actually predates Fez and was the first stop on the caravan routes between the Sahara and the Mediterranean coast. It was originally populated by Berber converts to Judaism, who came north from the Tafilalt date palmery and from Algeria in the 13th century. The town remained a nucleus of Jewish life until 1956, when, upon the country's declaration of independence from France, virtually all of the Jewish community fled Morocco.