Ouazzane () is a town in northern

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, with a population of 59,606 recorded in the

2014 Moroccan census The 2014 Moroccan census was held in Morocco between 1 September and 20 September 2014. The census was conducted by the High Planning Commission.Sufism Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

. It has been known also as "Dar Dmana" ("House of Safety") due to its containing the tomb of the 18th-century Idrisi Sharif. Many Jews of Morocco consider Ouazzane to be a holy city and make

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

s there to venerate the tomb of several

marabout In the Muslim world, the marabout () is a Sayyid, descendant of Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, Romanization of Arabic, romanized: ''sayyid'' and ''sidi'' in the Maghreb) and a Islam, Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the f ...

s (Moroccan

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s), particularly ''moul Anrhaz'', the local name for

Amram ben Diwan Amram ben Diwan (: died 1782, Ouazzane, Morocco) was a venerated 18th-century rabbi whose tomb has become the site of an annual pilgrimage. Born in Jerusalem, he moved to Hebron in 1743 and was sent to collect donations from the Moroccan Jewish ...

, an eighteenth-century

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. He lived in the city and his burial site is associated with a number of

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divi ...

s. During the Rif rebellion (leader Abd el Krim) in 1925–1926, Ouazzane was an important supply base for the French Army. Ouazzane was connected by a 600 mm gauge

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

railway via Ain Dfali, Mechra Bel Ksiri to

Port Lyautey Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

, now

Kenitra Kenitra (, , , ) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is a port on the Sebou River with a population of 507,736 as of 2024. It is one of the three main cities of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region and the capital of the similarly named Kénitra ...

, forming part of the 1912–1914 French built extensive narrow gauge network of

Chemins de fer Militaires du Maroc Rail transport in Morocco was initially developed during the protectorate. It functioned primarily as a means to mobilize colonial troops and to transport natural resources. Later, a standard-gauge network was built. First narrow-gauge lines ...

, the largest 600 mm gauge network that ever existed in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

with a total length of more than 1702 kilometres.

References

External links

Lexicorient
{{Authority control Jewish pilgrimage sites Populated places in Ouezzane Province Provincial capitals in Morocco Morocco geography articles needing translation from French Wikipedia