We walked north and west from the Place Moulay Hassan, and soon–it was unmistakable–we were walking along the inside of the town’s eighteenth century walls. In particular, we were walking along the Skala Nord, between the two marked gates on the adjacent map. (This map, the best I could find online, is from the Web site of Riad Baladin.)

We passed through a gate and entered an area where the shops seemed to spring from the walls.

Indeed, as stretch of unopened shops clearly showed, they were, in fact, housed within the wall. I wonder what filled these arches when the walls were used as fortifications. Cannon ball storage? Barracks?

It was, it turns out, easy to reach the top of the wall, parts of which were still adorned with cannons.

Beyond lay a view of the modern city, and of an ocean that bore no resemblance whatsoever to the pleasant swimming beach near the fishing port.