Roaming around the Middle Atlas region means running into charming rural towns every few kilometers. Sefrou is one of these, but what sets it apart from the rest is its reputation as one of the most haunted places in Morocco.
Sefrou’s claim to fame is due to the large Jewish population that used to call this place home. The first evidence of Jewish people arriving in Sefrou dates back to at least 2,000 years ago. Upon their arrival, widespread conversion to Judaism followed, and the number of Jews in town swelled to more than half of its entire population. In the eighth century, Idris I of Morocco spearheaded a wave of conversion to Islam, and most of the people in Sefrou became Muslim. A century later, more Jewish people arrived from Algeria. The descendants of this group remained in Sefrou until 1967, when most decided to relocate to Israel.
At its peak, the Jewish population living in Sefrou reached 8,000. Nowadays, there are still some Jewish people living here, but precise figures are missing. What is certain is that those who emigrated left behind many empty buildings in the Mellah (Jewish neighborhood in the medina). Although some of the buildings have been reclaimed, there is some reticence to move into these buildings, as they are said to be haunted by the ghosts of the Jewish people who once lived and died there.
Apart from the buildings where people used to live, Jewish infrastructures that are still standing include the outer walls along the Oued Aggai river, the premise of a school, and the desecrated cemetery on the outskirts of the town. There might still be the abandoned building where an orphanage was located, but it is not clear if this is the case. The synagogue, on the other hand, has been demolished, and only a few pillars and walls shared with adjacent buildings are left.
The narrow alleyways throughout the medina (including Mellah) are now busy with vendors, delivery boys, and shoppers, but above ground level, most of the buildings are either sealed off, in a state of disrepair, or both. The occasional trilingual writing on the wall is a forlorn reminder of this town’s multiethnic past.
