SOLITARY CAT, CHEFCHAOUEN, MOROCCO Admiring this surreal image, viewers first think that the extensive Delft Sky blue has been achieved with a computer-generated program, realizing quickly that the cat’s fur, although not as white as it could be, certainly is not blue. Chefchaouen, the name itself extraordinary, is unlike anywhere else in the world. Although the blue is not restricted to Chefchauoen (also called Chaouen, Xaouen), nowhere else in North Africa is this dreamlike colour given such prominence, with such impact. The entire residential area of the medina, a walled city section featuring constricted labyrinthine lanes, displays spectacular hues of blue, a shadowy dark shade nearest the earth, fading in phases, with the upper walls a powdery blue-white. Sheltered by steep hills, Djebala tribespeople settled in this remote, isolated area in 1471 A.D. welcoming only Musl
... read more
