How it all came to be?

This website is the outcome of a year long research project made possible by a generous grant from the United States Fulbright Commission (for more on the Fulbright, go to www.iie.org).

The 'Leo project' involved the exploration of the life, works and travels of Leo Africanus, a 16th century Moroccan traveler, explorer and geographer.

Cristel, the investigator and Fulbright grantee spent one year in Morocco, tracing Leo Africanus' presence there. Her work involved several aspects of this presence, delving into realms as varied as Leo's actual travels through Morocco or the ways in which he is perceived by contemporary Moroccan scholarship.

As she discovered new facts, facets of Leo's personality or places he wrote about, she listed them on this site, for curious readers and other interested parties.


In June 1999, Cristel's research and travel was eternally engraved in a website dedicated to Leo and to Morocco.

Since then, it has been updated in many small and not so small ways. So come back often!