Here are a few pictures from our visit to Ceuta. We stayed in a very nice marina with great sunset opportunities. I cannot confirm this 100% but in the mornings it appeared there was a dusting of snow on the mountain tops (Monte Hacho) we could see from the marina. The second picture captures the view of the snow. It was relatively cool at sea level and I suppose it is possible that it actually was snow but it just seemed a little too surreal for some reason. However, as the sun came up the snow would appear to melt and the color of the mountains would change. We figured it was either snow or some trick of light playing off the rocks of the mountain.
The city streets and public areas in Ceuta are all clean and well maintained. There were crews of sidewalk sweepers out all the time. They used hand-woven straw brooms to do the sweeping. The sidewalks were tile or marble and there was considerable artwork and statues placed around the city. Many of the staircases and walls were obviously very old and constructed with solid masonry techniques. The area is heavily influenced by both Islam and the Catholic faiths. Artwork influenced by Islam is found very close to Catholic shrines. It was an interesting mix.
In the very center of town there is a huge stone fort. A water channel flowed from one side of the peninsula to the other through the moat of the fort. I did not get a chance to take a tour of the fort but from what I could tell it was a very impressive structure. I included a few photos of the moat and the walls of the fort.
The water flowed out of the fort area to the sea on the southern edge of Ceuta. There is a nice beach area all along the southern boundary. As you followed the beach further to the West it transitioned into the beaches of Morocco. The beaches were all very clean and well maintained. During the day they were quite busy, the pictures I took were at sunrise so there was not much activity yet.
As we went through the central market we met a spice vendor. He was selling a variety of spices from all over and his booth smelled fantastic. I spent some time sniffing around and could not resist taking a picture of the colorful curries and spices he had for sale.
There is a serious Hercules theme going on in Ceuta. The marine we stayed in was the Hercules Marina. There was more than one statue of Hercules around town. To me it was a bit of a curiosity. One of the plaques I read summarized the story of the Pillars of Hercules.
According to some Roman sources Hercules was on his way to the island of Erytheia and had to cross the mountain once known as Atlas. Instead of crossing over the mountain, Hercules used his super-human strength to split the mountain in two. This split opened the Straits of Gibraltar connecting the Atlantic ocean with the Mediterranean Sea and the two remaining mountain remnants are known as the Pillars of Hercules. The northern Pillar is Gibraltar and the southern pillar on the African continent is Monte Hacho in Ceuta.
Plato is credited with writing that the lost city of Atlantis lay beyond the pillars of Hercules (again kids, don’t use this in your book reports). The pillars apparently bore the warning “Nec Plus Ultra” - or Nothing Beyond Here. They served as a warning to sailors to go no further out into the Atlantic ocean. We obviously choose to ignore this warning now.
