After a day of cycling north through Morocco, I arrived in the old city of Larache and started looking for the place where I would spend the night. I wasn't exactly sure what I had gotten myself into.
The street was narrow, rough, and crowded with old buildings. The walls were worn, the pavement was uneven, and nothing looked much like a hotel. I followed my directions through the twisting streets until I finally found the correct door. From the outside, it didn't look like much.
What would you expect to find behind this door?
Then the door opened. It was like stepping into a small paradise. Hidden behind the walls was a beautiful open courtyard surrounded by rooms, balconies, plants, decorations, and several floors of the house rising above me. After the noise and activity of the street outside, everything inside felt surprisingly peaceful. I had discovered a riad.
Riads have been part of Moroccan architecture for centuries, with roots in much older Islamic and Mediterranean traditions. These traditional homes are designed to face inward rather than outward toward the street, with rooms arranged around a private central courtyard or garden.
