Moroccan and German archaeologists will resume excavations at the medieval site of Belyounech in September, following a preliminary survey mission conducted from July 27 to 31, Morocco’s Culture Ministry said in a statement published Aug. 13.
The project brings together Morocco’s National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences and the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid, under Asmae El Kacimi and Felix Arnold.
The July mission carried out topographical surveys using several documentation techniques to prepare new excavation areas and systematically record remains already visible across the site.
Belyounech lies about six kilometers west of Ceuta on Morocco’s Mediterranean coast and extends across roughly 175 hectares at the foot of Jbel Musa.
Known from written sources since the eighth century through its port, Marsa Musa, the settlement later reached its height under the Almohad and Marinid dynasties. It served as an important maritime stop and agricultural hinterland supplying Ceuta.
Historical accounts from the early 14th century describe 24 estates, 19 mosques, 16 ovens, coastal warehouses and fortified towers at the site.
The September campaign will examine residential architecture, gardens, agricultural areas, baths and water-management networks, including irrigation channels and princely residences known as munyas.
The work revives archaeological research begun at Belyounech in the 1970s under Moroccan archaeologist Joudia Hassar Benslimane.
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