Ifrane
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Ifrane
إفران | |
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UTC+1 (CET ) |
Ifrane (
The modern town of Ifrane was established by the French administration in 1928 during the
The first permanent settlement of the area dates to the 16th century, when the Sharif Sîdî 'Abd al-Salâm established his community in the Tizguit Valley, seven km downstream from the present town. Ifrane is a colonial "hill station", and a "garden city". It is also an "imperial city", a mountain resort, a provincial administrative center, and a college town.
History
The first permanent settlement of the area dates to the 16th century, when a sharîf by the name of Sîdî ‘Abd al-Salâm established his community in the
By the mid-17th century Sîdî ‘Abd al-Salâm’s zâwiyah was well enough established to receive an extensive iqtâ’, or land grant, from the ‘Alâwî sultan Mûlây Rashîd b. Muhammad. The iqtâ’ extended from upstream of present Ifrane down the Tizguit valley all the way to El Hajeb escarpment. Late in the 19th century agro-pastoral groups of the Amazigh Senhadja Beni M’guild and Zenata the Ait Seghrouchen, crossing the Middle Atlas from the upper Moulouya Plain, started grazing their herds of sheep and goats on the surrounding plateau. The livelihood of the zâwiyah was based on irrigated agriculture on the valley floor, livestock grazing and forest resources.
The agricultural plots were held as private property (mulk) but the grazing land was under collective tribal jurisdiction (j’maa). The tribally organized populations of the Ifrane-Azrou area submitted to colonial rule after a period of resistance (1913–1917). Resistance continued higher in the mountains (Timahdit, Jebel Fazzaz) until 1922.
Modern history
The modern town of Ifrane was established by the French administration in 1929 on land expropriated from the inhabitants of the
As elsewhere in Morocco, a shanty town called Timdiqîn soon grew up next to the colonial establishment. It housed the Moroccan population (maids, gardeners, etc.) that serviced the French vacationers. Timdiqîn was separated from the colonial garden city by a deep ravine. After independence, the French properties in the original garden city were slowly bought up by Moroccans. The town was enlarged and endowed with a mosque, a municipal market and public housing estates. Furthermore, the shanty neighborhood of Timdiqîn was rebuilt with proper civic amenities.
In 1979 Ifrane became the seat of the administrative province of the same name and some government services were established. In 1995 Al Akhawayn University, an English-language, American-curriculum public university opened and this has helped re-launch Ifrane as a desirable destination for domestic tourism. Consequently, Ifrane continues to develop as both a summer and winter resort. Old chalets in the center of town are being demolished and replaced with condominium complexes, while vacation centers and gated housing estates are springing up on the outskirts.
The Middle Atlas Mountains consist mostly of a series of
originate in it. Historically, however, despite its centrality, the Middle Atlas has been an "empty quarter". Though the area was regularly crossed by traders, and though the alpine summer pasture was used by herders, the harsh climate and relatively poor soils long impeded permanent human settlement. Today the Middle Atlas is still one of the least densely populated parts of Morocco, even when compared to other mountainous regions such as the High Atlas and the Rif.A small fort overlooking Oued Tizguit (now part of the palace precinct) had already been built during the period of military conquest in order to secure the Fez to Khenifra road across the mountains. The gently rolling landscape, with fresh springs and wildflowers, was judged to have potential as a summer resort for colon families from the Saïss Plain, Meknes and Fez. Fifty hectares of agricultural land upstream from the zâwiyah, in an area originally designated as Tourthit, or "garden", was expropriated for the project.
Ifrane was conceived as a "hill station" or colonial type of settlement. It is a resort town set high up in the mountains so that Europeans can find relief from the summer heat of tropical colonies. The British were the first to develop this type of resort in India, the best known of which is
"Garden City"
Ifrane was planned according to the "
In order to break with industrial-era grid plans, garden cities were always laid out with curving tree-lined streets. In fact, most garden cities were affluent suburbs, not true cities in their own right. They catered to the tastes of the upper middle classes who could afford to own a private automobile and property in the suburbs. They gave the illusion of county life, with village-type architecture, curvy streets and many trees, to people who in reality worked in big cities. Ifrane's initial garden city plan was designed in 1928 in Rabat by the Services Techniques of the Bureau de Contrôle des Municipalités, a division of the Direction des Affairs Politiques.
The 1928 plan – for the neighborhood known as Hay Riad today – had typical garden city features: curvy streets named for flora (Rue des lilas, Rue des tilleuls, etc.), and chalet-style houses. Houses could occupy only 40% of plots; the rest had to be planted as a garden. Moreover, large parts of the center of the town consisted of public gardens. Some of the original architecture can still be seen, especially in the neighborhood around the town hall and the Perce Neige Hotel. The summer homes built by the colons were designed by many of the same architects who built the European parts of Casablanca and Rabat. Whereas the European architecture in these big cities was innovative and intentionally modern, Ifrane's houses were built in traditional European styles and resembled those in the suburbs of contemporaneous French cities.
Ifrane's first public buildings were a post office and a Roman Catholic church. The church, consecrated in 1939, was designed by Paul Tournon (1881–1964), a recipient of the prestigious Prix de Rome who had also designed the Sacré Cœur Church in Casablanca. The resort function of the new town was consolidated with the building of a number of hotels. Ifrane's first flagship hotel was the Balima, which was demolished in the 1980s. The other main hotel was the Grand Hôtel, which has recently been refurbished. A royal palace was also built for Sultan Muhammad b.Yûsuf.
Ifrane is thus an "imperial" city in that it houses a palace and benefits from royal patronage. One final institution of Ifrane's early years worthy of mention is the penitentiary which no longer exists, and the site, across from the Police Academy and the new police Commissariat, has been redeveloped as a summer camp for the Ministry of Justice. The penitentiary served as a Prisoner of War camp during World War II. The popular story of the origin of Ifrane's lion sculpture involves an Italian inmate of this prison sculpting the lion out of an outcrop of limestone; however, this is not true as the lion dates from at least 1936 thus predating World War II.[5]
The garden city hill station high in the Middle Atlas was always going to be an illusion of suburban middle-class France. Provisions were made for the housing and infrastructure of colonial home-owners, but not for the Moroccan maids, gardeners or guards who worked for them. Finding no housing in the official allotments, these people had to build their own houses some distance away, across a ravine north of the town. As elsewhere in Morocco at the time, a shantytown thus grew up next to the colonial town. This is the origin of Timdiqin (officially called Hay Atlas).
Climate
Located in the
Because of its elevation, the town experiences snow during the winter months and a cooler climate during the summer (not as hot as in the nearby regions which lie at a lower altitude).[6]
Owing to the city's elevation and proximity to the north Atlantic Ocean, rainfall is very heavy whenever frontal systems affect the region. Precipitation patterns follow the classic Mediterranean range, from October to April. The city also receives high snowfall starting as early as October and lasting well into spring season. The annual average temperature does not exceed 11 °C (52 °F).
Ifrane holds the record for the lowest temperature ever observed in Africa: −23.9 °C (−11.0 °F) on February 11, 1935.[6]
Climate data for Ifrane (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 21.6 (70.9) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.2 (75.6) |
26.3 (79.3) |
32.0 (89.6) |
35.2 (95.4) |
36.4 (97.5) |
37.7 (99.9) |
34.4 (93.9) |
29.4 (84.9) |
23.3 (73.9) |
21.9 (71.4) |
37.7 (99.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) |
10.6 (51.1) |
13.1 (55.6) |
15.4 (59.7) |
19.6 (67.3) |
25.2 (77.4) |
30.3 (86.5) |
30.3 (86.5) |
24.6 (76.3) |
19.3 (66.7) |
13.0 (55.4) |
10.6 (51.1) |
18.4 (65.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.2 (39.6) |
5.2 (41.4) |
7.6 (45.7) |
9.8 (49.6) |
13.6 (56.5) |
18.3 (64.9) |
22.8 (73.0) |
22.8 (73.0) |
18.1 (64.6) |
13.6 (56.5) |
7.9 (46.2) |
5.5 (41.9) |
12.5 (54.4) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −1.0 (30.2) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
2.2 (36.0) |
4.1 (39.4) |
7.5 (45.5) |
11.3 (52.3) |
15.2 (59.4) |
15.3 (59.5) |
11.5 (52.7) |
7.8 (46.0) |
2.7 (36.9) |
0.4 (32.7) |
6.4 (43.5) |
Record low °C (°F) | −14.4 (6.1) |
−23.9 (−11.0) |
−9.8 (14.4) |
−5.6 (21.9) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
0.0 (32.0) |
4.5 (40.1) |
4.4 (39.9) |
0.7 (33.3) |
−3.8 (25.2) |
−10.4 (13.3) |
−14.0 (6.8) |
−23.9 (−11.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 125.8 (4.95) |
113.8 (4.48) |
115.5 (4.55) |
94.1 (3.70) |
52.4 (2.06) |
20.4 (0.80) |
11.7 (0.46) |
17.0 (0.67) |
40.2 (1.58) |
90.6 (3.57) |
137.0 (5.39) |
142.9 (5.63) |
961.4 (37.84) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 7.8 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 7.3 | 5.8 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 7.9 | 8.1 | 72.0 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 180.6 | 169.1 | 214.4 | 211.2 | 263.1 | 302.3 | 340.8 | 317.0 | 258.1 | 227.3 | 175.8 | 172.8 | 2,832.5 |
Source: NOAA (sun 1961–1990)[7][8] |
Flora and fauna
Ifrane's biodiversity is unique. Its fauna and flora contain rare yet mostly endangered species. Animals to be found in the vicinity include the
Fauna
Mammalian species
- The Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus), an endangered monkey species that lives in its wild state in the forests of the Middle Atlas, including the forests surrounding Ifrane. Barbary macaques can be seen in the outskirts or the farther areas of the town of Ifrane when there is no more food in the woods, or simply because they have become familiar with humans.
- The golden jackal (Canis aureus), referred to as ‘ich’ab’ in Tamazight, the same term used for ‘wolf’
- The caracal (Caracal caracal), which is hard to spot, and survives thanks to its extreme discretion.
- The common genet (Genetta genetta)[10]
Bird species
- The Atlas Coal Tit (Parus ater Atlas), an endemic passerine bird native to the Atlas mountains range.
- The African crimson-winged finch (Rhodopechys alienus)
- The white scavenger vulture (Neophron percnopterus)[10]
Ifrane is also well known for its pisciculture (fish farming) stations. Ras el Ma forest has a trout-breeding station in which trout can be seen in their breeding basins. Moreover, Ifrane has a varied range of insects and amphibians.
Flora
Ifrane's plant and tree species include the following:[10]
- The Atlas cedar (Cedrus Atlantica)
- The holm oak (Quercus rotundifolia)
- The Portuguese oak (Quercus faginea)
- The maritime pine (Pinus pinaster ssp. Hamiltoni var. maghrebiana)
- The Spanish juniper (Juniperus thurifera)
- The laurel-leaf cistus (Cistus laurifolius)
- Genista quadrifolia
- Artemisia mesatlantica
Notable people
- Mostafa Smaili, middle-distance runner.
- Adil Jelloul, road bicycle racer.
Notes
- ^ a b "Climatological Information for Ifrane, Morocco", Hong Kong Observatory, 2003, web: HKO-Ifrane.
- ^ High Commission for Planning. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
- ^ Egan, E. Notes from higher grounds: an altitude training guide for endurance athletes, Kukimbia Huru Publishing
- ^ Robin Gauldie, Morocco
- ^ "bloxode.com".
- ^ a b "Africa: Lowest Temperature | ASU World Meteorological Organization". Archived from the original on 2015-09-25. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
- ^ "Ifrane Climate Normals 1991–2020". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
- ^ "Ifrane Climate Normals 1961–1990". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
- ^ C. Michael Hogan, 2008)
- ^ a b c "Inventaire de la Biodiversité" (PDF). Clearing House Mechanism on Biodiversity of Morocco. December 25, 2006.
References
- Inventaire de la Biodiversité. (2016). Clearing House Mechanism on Biodiversity of Morocco. Retrieved from http://ma.chm
- Robin Gauldie, Morocco, New Holland Publishers ISBN 978-1-84773-095-4. 128 pages
- C. Michael Hogan, (2008) Barbary Macaque: Macaca sylvanus, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. Nicklas Stromberg
External links
Media related to Ifrane at Wikimedia Commons
- Lexicorient Archived 2008-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
- Al Akhawayn University