Rabat and Salé Jewish Heritage Tour – Excursion from Casablanca

Join us for a private 12-hour day trip from Casablanca to the nearby cities of Rabat and Salé (also called Sala and Sla’).

Rabat is home to the Mohamed V Mausoleum, the historical site “Mallah”, the synagogue Rabbi Shalom Zaoui and the Talmud Torah. Nearby Sala is where more rich Jewish patrimony awaits you. Accompanied by a licensed guide, you’ll first visit these important Jewish sites as you learn about Rabat and Salé’s rich history. Today, Rabat is Morocco’s political capital and diplomatic administrative center.

Meeting point: Your guide and driver will meet you at your hotel, cruise ship dock, or other location specified by you.

Driving time and distance

• Casablanca to Rabat approximately one hour 15mn
• Driving time between Rabat Sala approximately 20mn
• Sala and Casablanca approximately one hour 45mn

Accessibility: The Mallah is accessible but the old medina of Rabat is not accessible for people with disabilities because of the narrow crowded streets. It’s full of shops and crowded with walking people. The Old Medina remains very exiting place for gold, silver and all kind of products shopping. We will allow time for shopping at your request.

What’s included

• 12-hour day trip from Casablanca to Rabat
• Private guide for the day
• Private driver and transportation
• Wifi
• Water
• Visit to the Hassan Tower & Mohamed V Mausoleum
• Visit of the Rabbi CHALOUM ZAOUI Synagogue
• Visit of the Mellah of Rabat
• Old Medina of Rabat
• TALMUD TORAH Synagogue
• The old cemetery of Salé
• Rabbi Encoua/Synagogue
• Return to Casablanca

Not included

• Admission fees
• Snack, lunch and dinner expenses at restaurants of your choice
• Tips for your guide and driver (appreciated, but not mandatory)

Pomenade at Mellah of Rabat: The visit of every Medina in Morocco would not be complete without a tour at the Mellah, the former Jewish quarter. It was in 1807 that Sultan Moulay Slimane decided to consolidate the Jews in a separate district and built the Mellah in the far east of the Medina of Rabat. He endowed the District of all modern infrastructures: shops, ovens, Hammam, synagogues and even sewers. Today there is practically no Jew in the Mellah although one synagogue remains active. Of all time the Jews took an active part in the whole territory, to the socio economic life, craftsmen, traders usually related to the trades of gold and silver. Their contribution to other areas was not moindre. It’s evident that Jewish minority and Muslim majority have always shared the same languages, the same culture and especially: songs, poetry, proverbs, jokes, …etc. The points of interaction and Confluence are many and fruitful. At the entrance of  Mallah is located  the Synagogue Rabbi CHALOM ZAOUI which is the only one still active in the Mellah. Outside the Mellah there is also Talmud Torah Synagogue which was the Institute of high rabbinical studies in Rabat.

Explore Jewish Heritage in Sala: In the 11th century when Chellah fell into decadence, Sala on the right bank of the river Bouregreg took great importance. It was the capital of the Beni Ifren. The atmosphere is very different from that of Rabat. Yet both cities have undergone Andalusia influence. In their small shops, craftsmen carefully make slippers or embroidering Caftans. The commercial part, the MEDERSA, the mausoleum of Sidi Abdallah BEN HASSOUN and the essential part the MELLAH, which was built at the same time as that of Rabat. The General Plan is exactly the same. The Jews abandoned this district in the mid-twentieth century. In the ancient Jewish cemetery in the heart of Sale there is still the tomb of Rabbi Raphael Encoua. The only synagogue still existing in SALA is located inside the cemetery.