By Larbi Arbaoui
By Larbi Arbaoui
Morocco World News
Taroudant, Nov 14, 2012
The controversial replica of the Paris’ Eiffel Tower, which was erected in the city of Fez in early October, has suddenly disappeared, eyewitnesses told Morocco World News.
No one in the city knows about the whereabouts of the tower and people are wondering how it disappeared all of a sudden. They were taken aback on Tuesday morning to see that this controversial replica of the Eiffel tower do not exist any more.
Immediately after the tower was built, people of Fez wondered why Hamdi Chabat, the Mayor of the city and Secretary General of the Istiqlal party, decided to build such a “monument,” which symbolizes the French culture, instead of renovating and restoring the historic and crumbling buildings in Fez that have a significant and a special place in the history of the Kingdom and in popular memory.
The Moroccans also questioned the need for an Arc de Triomphe-like gigantic ark which the mayor of Fez is intended to build at the entrance to the city of Fez on the road to Meknes, knowing that the French arc de triomph was built by Napoleon Bonaparte for the French to remember the victories of their army in the Battle of Austerlitz.
A petition had been launched on the social media (Facebook) calling for the destruction of the replica of Eiffel tower.
The petition said that many people “were surprised” after seeing a replica of the Eiffel Tower under construction in one of the main areas of the city of Fez.
The author of the petition said that he launched this petition “to initiate a debate and eventually bring about the demolition of this “horror,” referring to the replica of the Eiffel Tower erected in the spiritual capital city of the kingdom.
The author added that “This historic city has, for more than 12 centuries, stood for a rich and varied cultural heritage, renowned worldwide. So I therefore believe that in a strategic city like Fez, the construction of an ordinary replica of the Eiffel Tower is simply not appropriate.”
The laymen in Fez who feel the brunt of the economic crisis that the city has been going through for decades are more concerned with finding a decent job to feed their families than seeing what they deem as “unnecessary” monument that neither represents the history of this city nor its culture.
They pointed out that instead of embarking in this extravagant project, Mr. Chabat would be better-off caring about the safeguard of the precious and unique monuments that are scattered in every corner of the old medina of Fez.
