The city of Safi is full of little -known places such as Sidi Ahmad Chachkal, which was the theme of Nomad#19. This week, Yabiladi takes you again to Cap Beddouza (Cap Cantin), 35 kilometers from Safi (Marrakech-Safi region). The studious cave is a place loaded with legends which enriches the imagination of the inhabitants of Safi.
Toufrit Mahdar (Mosque cave in Amazigh) has an opening on the sea that lets the mind wander, it is similar to that of the Hercules cave in Tangier. A strong wind penetrates between the walls and causes the chills of the rare visitors to the place. It is a large piece topped with sand like a carpet. The inhabitants of Safi attribute to the legends revealed by the anthropologist Fouad Rehouma in Yabiladi.
Siren children
“The main legend which carries a consensus at the level of the imagination of the natives, was told by the ancestors,” he says. According to the 62 -year -old man who settled in the region, fishermen were around the cave, “In the middle of the night, they will hear the Koran for the Koran. Intrigued and worried, they approach the source of sound, ”says the anthropologist. The fishermen lean to see inside the cave, they see small children there reciting the Book Holy.
“The children saw that they were observed. They got scared and threw themselves to the sea through the opening of the cave. ”
“The imaginary develops the question by saying that these children are supernatural beings,” adds Fouad Rehouma. Descendants of a mermaid who came to give birth in the cave, “siren children”. The latter lived in Tighalin who is, according to legend, a city engulfed under the sea being in front of the studious cave. “Unfortunately, there is no archaeological research to assert the existence of Tighalin,” regrets the anthropologist.
The studious cave. / PH. Moroccoopedia
Another legend enriches the mystery of the studious cave concerning Sidi Ahmed Chachkal, the leader of the Zaouïa where people came to make the “poor pilgrimage”. The “saint” had a “baraka”, he lived at 13th century. Visitors came to see him from distant regions to benefit from his wisdom and his knowledge. “For the inhabitants of Beddouza, he said to them” If you want to see me, no need to move. Go to the studious cave and read the Koran then send me your request “”, says Fouad Rehouma. The place was “a room with an echo of the stories of people”, giving it a “sacred” character. These two legends show that “the sacred imaginary mythological” and the “sacred Muslim” argue the place in the collective imagination argues the anthropologist.
The opening on the Sea of the studious cave. / PH. Fouad rehouma
More recently, towards the end of 19th century, the Caïd Issa Benomar reigned over the region (like Thami El Glaoui it had many properties in Morocco). “He evoked terror among the inhabitants of the region, since he came to take their cattle and then killed them,” says Fouad Rehouma. To flee the caid “people hid the studious cave. It was their refuge, ”he adds. This tip would continue until the dismissal of Issa Benomar by the French during the protectorate period in 1915.
But beyond this poetic and legendary universe, the anthropologist wishes to send a cry from the heart. “The site needs to be protected, that we recognize it, that it is part of the local heritage,” he protests. “Throughout the coast in the Safi region are there different magnificent caves that are worth seeing,” he concludes.
Location of the studious cave. / PH. Google maps
