Mellah
POINTS OF INTEREST
Mellah
As in other Moroccan cities, the Mellah is the old Jewish quarter, once a small, walled-off city within the city. Although it was once home to a thriving community of native and Spanish Jews, along with rabbinical schools and scholars, today it's home to only a few Jewish inhabitants. You can visit the remains of a couple of synagogues with the help of an official guide, or local kids will be happy to point the way in return for a few dirhams. The Lazama Synagogue is open daily and is still used for weddings and bar mitzvahs of foreign visitors. It has a pretty, blue-tiled inner courtyard. The Mellah gets its name from the Arabic word for salt, and some say that the Jewish residents who lived here acquired their wealth through the salt trade.
