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Mellah at Figuig, Morocco

Figuig, Morocco

Figuig is an island of Morocco surrounded by Algeria. Located in southeastern Morocco, Figuig is a town composed of seven different communities, amid a leafy palm oasis in the shadow of Algerian peaks and desert. Like many oaseis in southern Morocco, Figuig once had a small Jewish population, reportedly numbering about one hundred Jews in its mellah (Jewish quarter).


 

Description

How to get there: Figuig is accessible by the long stretch of highway from Oujda southward, snaking along the border with Algeria. On the road, one may see the occasional hitchhiking family or loner, waiting for who knows how long for a ride to an unknown destination. Stark desert mountains line the path along the dusty road, straight through the center of town of Figuig, which boasts an impressive and expansive palm oasis and wormwood tea sweetened with whole bricks of sugar.

What remains: A mellah, including a locked up synagogue, as well as a cemetery at the far end of town are all that remains of the Jews of Figuig. The cemetery is enclosed by a square rock fence and a brown iron door that says ‘mamnu’aa al-dakhoul’ —entry is forbidden —in Arabic. A few larger graves are visible toward the back wall, but the rest seems to have fallen into ruin. The mellah is located closer to the main thoroughfare of the town at the end of the highway, accessible by walking under wooden over-head building arches, ducking around covered corridors and open alleys. All that remains of the synagogue is a wall that people identify as such, but it is locked and no one around seems to have the key. A crumbled archway leads into an open square, known as an open space belonging to the mellah. Across from the mellah is a modern basketball court as well as a modern school, which may have once housed a Jewish school.

Figuig, Morocco

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