Morocco has a long and fascinating history, full of kings and princes, sultans and warlords. Few regimes have survived more than 3-4 generations, and the present king, Muhammad 6, is part of one the longest dynasties of Moroccan history. Thanks to its wild mountains, Morocco has been able to give shelter to rebellious groups. These groups have from from time to time grown into becoming strong enough to attack the existing rulers in the cities, and establish new dynasties. Dynasties that lasted until the a new group in the mountains had grown into the necessary strength to overthrow them.
From the modest town of Tin Mal up in the High Atlas Mountains, two of Morocco's most influential dynasties grew, the Almohads and the Almoravids. Both orientations were zealous Muslim orientations, and came to dominate Morocco as well as Spain for a couple of centuries in the Middle Ages.
With the arrival of the French in the 20th century, two ruling families developed. The one of the kings before and of now, and the Glaouis. The Glaouis didn't aim for control over all of Morocco, rather the southern Berber-dominated south. They never succeeded, but the royal castle of Telouet tells about their riches and power.
Rissani is another strange origin for a ruling family, the one of the present king, the Alaouites. The Alaouites rose out of this isolated, hence protected, oasis before conquering the most important parts of Morocco.
Rabat is today the main residence of the king, and the capital of the kingdom. It became important to make Rabat the capital, as Casablanca, the biggest city at the time of independence, was more than anything else a French city.
No other city of today's Morocco is more isolated than Dakhla. It lies 600 km from the nearest settlement in the area that is considered Western Sahara by the international society. On a tiny strip of sand, Dakhla stretches out into the Atlantic. The city is dominated by Sahrawis, with Moroccans as a minority together with Mauritanians and Senegalese.
Morocco has a history as a Roman province, and Volubilis is one of the greatest ruin cities in all of North Africa. Volubilis, lying between the fertile hills north of modern Meknes and Fez, offers one of the best collections of mosaics of any Roman city.
OK, perhaps the most isolated city in Morocco is not Dakhla, but Melilla. Since it isn't in Morocco, but in Spain, but in Morocco.... Melilla is the smallest piece of land you could imagine, where 40,000 Spanish live a European life on African soil, 7 hours away from Europe. Definitely worth the tour.
