Sunday Gateway: The Blue City of Morocco

Today, let's enjoy a nice trip in one of Morocco’s most popular tourist destinations: Chefchaouen. It is most known for its blue-rinsed buildings and alleys, an old tradition leftover from the city’s Jewish population.

The name Chefchaouen comes from “chauen”, which is Spanish for horns, and refers to the shape of the two mountains overlooking the settlement. But it is not its strange name, the beautiful and unique handicrafts sold by local craftsman, or the delicious goat cheese that attracts the majority of tourists to Chefchaouen.

It is the blue-painted houses and buildings of the city, a tradition inherited from the former Jewish inhabitants. In the Bible, Israelites are commanded to dye one of the threads in their tallit (prayer shawl) blue, with tekhelel. This was an old natural dye, processed from a species of shellfish, but in time its production collapsed and the Jewish people eventually forgot how to make it. But, in honor of the sacred commandment, the color blue was still woven into the cloth of their tallit. When they look at the dye, they will think of the blue sky, and the God above them in Heaven. 

While the Jewish population of Chefchoauen is not as numerous as it one was, practically everyone in the city still follows this old tradition and frequently renew the paint job on their homes. 

These incredible photos were taken by Maxim Kiryushin.

A Forest Pavilion by Stekke & Fraas

I Love the architecture and the surrounding of this 'deep into nature' home. When buying an old building plot overtaken by nature, it’s easy to bulldoze away. Instead, the owner of the plot in Viller-la-Ville fell in love with the surroundings and asked Brussels-based architecture firm Stekke + Fraas to build him a small living unit one with nature.

They started by taking the house towards the back of the plot, where the view is the most forest-like. This resulted into building on a natural inclination. Instead of levelling the plot, they constructed the black zinc house with the help of eight concrete piles on which the building rests. This gave the advantage to open up the back of the volume and be on the same hight of the tree trunks. Creating a real place of refuge... I would be happy to spent my time at this gorgeous pavilion!

The beautiful pictures are taken by Tim Van de Velde.

Wildlife Photography By Nikolai Zinoviev

My photographer in light today is the Russian photographer Nikolai Zinoviev, with his marvellous wildlife photos. He photographs for both companies and individuals who like to see wild nature and its inhabitants in their daily living and work environments.

Most of us live in places completely altered by civilization, territories of hundreds of square miles where there’s no place left for nature as it existed thousands years ago and for wild species, that once populated these vast territories. Nikolai’s mission is to bring wildlife into people’s homes and workplaces through his photographs, to make them feel the importance of preserving of what is left of it on Earth. 

He said: 'I dreamt a lot about taking a long trip in Africa to experience the savanna’s wild beauty'. Hmmmm I love that dream! 

Nikolai Zinoviev's website: www.nikzinoviev.com