Semara Travel Guide

 maykal Says:  Smara doesn't have a museum, but this place comes close, acting as a sort of museum of Sahraoui culture. Hidden away behind a military complex and not signposted at all, the ensemble artisanal is a collection of little workshops where Sahraoui crafts past and present are... 

 maykal Says:  Cross the wasteground in front of the zaouia, trying to avoid any drunks who gather under the shade of the few scraggly diseased-looking trees, you'll find a tiny monument to a French adventurer. In 1930, Michel Vieuchange was apparently the first European to reach Smara... 

 maykal Says:  Next door to the zaouia are the remains of Smara's Great Mosque, standing opposite a large military compound. Only the columns and a few arches remain, used nowadays as a public toilet and bike rack for the soldiers working over the road. you have to be careful where you... 

 maykal Says:  Smara's main attraction, this modest little zaouia is named after a religious man called Sheikh Ma al-Ainein who set up a madrasa (religious school) here in 1895, making this the oldest building in Smara. Walking around on my own, I'd found my way to the entrance to the... 

 maykal Says:  Lurking in a back alley off the souq are a couple of strange houses. Corrugated iron domes that look very temporary, more like store rooms or maybe air-raid shelters...these used to be part of the barracks for Spanish soldiers, now transformed into private homes. I'm told... 

 maykal Says:  In between the souq and the red light district lies one of Smara's older buildings, a mosque built by the Spanish. It is currently undergoing renovation and is hidden behind bits of metal sheeting and barbed wire. That didn't stop us entering though, as Tawfiq happened to...