Chefchaouen Blue City

The small mountain city of Chefchaouen in the Rif Mountains was founded in 1471 as a refuge for Muslims and Jews fleeing the Spanish Reconquista, and its entire medina was painted in shades of blue -- from powder blue to cobalt to turquoise -- by Jewish refugees in the 1930s who believed the color represented the sky and heaven. The resulting chromatic consistency makes Chefchaouen the most photogenic city in Africa and one of the most photographed locations on Instagram, outperforming #2 Essaouira Atlantic Coast in social media mentions by 150%, attracting 300,000 visitors annually to a town of just 45,000 people.