Marrakech was founded in 1062 by an Amazigh Muslim dynasty of warrior monks from the Sahara but it was not until the 16th century that the city was reinvigorated by the arrival of Saadians, the first Arab dynasty to rule Morocco. Amongst these Arab arrivals was the exceedingly wealthy Ahmed el-Mansur who financed major building projects including the construction of mosques, palaces and Koranic schools, marking a golden age for Marrakech.
With a present-day population of just over one million, Marrakech is the country’s fourth largest city and is regarded as the southern capital of Morocco. It is the premier tourist destination in Morocco and the city is a tourist Mecca drawing countless visitors from across the world.
Hotels (riads) in Marrakech, having to provide for such an amazingly cosmopolitan visiting tourist group, means that breakfast and dinner menus have to cater for English, Continental, Asian and of course, North African dietary preferences. Our breakfast choices this morning were extensive.
At 09:30 we met up with our tourist guide for much of the day and unsurprisingly, his name was Mohammed.
He spoke excellent English and informed us that he had been working as a tourist guide in Marrakech for thirty-five years. We subsequently found that he knew the complex maze of Marrakech’s souks intimately and many of the shop owners too.
Our first tourist destination for the day was the Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance). The construction of this mid to late 19th century building was first begun in 1859 by Si Moussa, a grand vizier (high official or Muslim minister of state). The palace is famous for its decoration having four separate riads each with an open marble paved courtyard with fountain. The surrounding rooms have spectacular cedar timbered domes with ceilings featuring intricate patterned paintings and walls with stunning stucco-work friezes and beautifully coloured mosaic tiles.
Ceiling in riad, Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)
Fountain in riad, Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)
The fourth of the riads we visited within the palace complex was called ‘The Grand Riad’. It has a huge indoor garden featuring orange trees and palms surrounding three marble ablution basins. The Grand Riad includes a former mosque and Koranic school.
The crowd visiting this palace was huge and it was difficult to get photos without people in the foreground or someone pushing past at an inappropriate moment.
Queues at Palais Bahai (Palace of Brilliance)
We then wandered through market alleyways and headed towards the Ben Youssef Mosque and Medersa (sometimes called a madrassa).
Market alleyway
Market alleyway
Traditional Berber woman with tattooed face
Market alleyway
This 14th century Islamic school was for four centuries the focal point for Muslim worshipers within the Medina of Marrakech.
Ben Youssef Medersa (madrassa)
It is regarded as a masterpiece of Moorish design with its zellij tilework, stucco archways and intricately carved plaster work. There is an exquisitely decorated dome and the main entrance has a wide bronze door topped by a carved cedar lintel, with the door leading to a mosaic paved corridor. The opulent central courtyard features an attractive and long rectangular ablution pool decorated with checkered black and white tiles. The roof and minaret of the Medersa are attractively capped with semicircular shiny green tiles.
Ben Youssef Medersa (madrassa)
The Prayer Hall with Ablution Basin, Ben Youssef Medersa
Jak at door of student room, Ben Youssef Medersa (madrassa)
The sheer opulence of this school for training young imams is testament to its status as a ‘must see’ when visiting Marrakech. However, the grandeur of this Medersa does not extend to the students’ individual private rooms that are not only windowless, but tiny, dark and singularly uninviting, being hidden behind thick wooden doors.
For the next hours or so, we visited the souks of Marrakech in the northern half of the medina. These markets are located within a maze of narrow, winding and constantly branching alleyways. Apart from the crowd density, the main problem of movement was associated with a constant stream of high-speed motorbikes, bicycles and hand carts delivering people and goods to the shops.
Colourful spices and flower buds outside Souk
Cart with chickens and pigeons
Cookie souk
The range of goods on offer is extensive with leather goods being a most prominent item. As well, we encountered metalwork, ceramics, glass, clothing and wooden items for sale, together with all the types of fruits, vegetables, spices and meats for sale.
Mohammed then took us into the secluded, back room of a souk pharmacy specialising in herbal medicines. We were then given a most interesting and informative talk by the owner’s daughter who had an impressive knowledge of spices and essential oils. She gave us hot mint tea to drink while she informed us about their business. We were shown a range of familiar spices plus quite a few we knew nothing about.
‘Pharmacy’
Herbs outside ‘pharmacy’
Pharmacist/herbalist
Many of the blended plant oils and spices had interesting therapeutic values which included treatment for relief from pain, skin disorders, stomach complaints, tiredness, insomnia and several others. One of the blended essential oils mixtures guaranteed the alleviation of facial wrinkles, as our young pharmacist assured us. She was charming and keen to know about lavender farming and the oil extraction. There was no pressure on us to purchase any of the many goods on display.
We then traversed the Jemaa el-Fna, the main square in the Marrakech Medina. There were thousands of people and many more stalls in this open area selling typical touristy items like t-shirts, caps, toys and trinkets. Amongst the more unusual activities were men offering macaque monkeys to hold and snake charmers blowing noisy pipes to entice cobras to put on a display. One woman we saw, was holding a monkey when it suddenly bit her. We certainly hope she had had a preliminary rabies vaccination!
At the entrance to the main to the square is the Koutoubia Mosque built in 1147 with the intention of it being one of the largest mosques in the world. The dominant feature of Marrakech’s skyline is the mosque’s 70 m high minaret which is the tallest structure in the city and by decree, no new building can be higher than it!
Koutoubia Mosque
Being non-Muslim, we were denied access to the Koutoubia Mosque and so instead, we caught up with Chahine who drove us to Majorelle Garden in the ‘new city’ part of Marrakech.
This small garden paradise is the legacy of expatriate French painter and garden enthusiast, Jacques Majorelle. In 1923 he created this beautiful botanical sanctuary to surround his art studio.
After his death, the gardens were neglected and fell into disrepair. Then in 1980, famous French couturier Yves Saint-Laurent bought the property and had it tastefully restored to its former glory.
We spent an hour wandering around the gardens that feature giant bamboo, laurel, geraniums, hibiscus, water lily, yucca, pomegranate, bougainvillea and cypress.
Majorelle Garden
Majorelle Garden
Majorelle Garden
Most significantly, it is home to more than 400 varieties of palm tree and 1800 species of cactus. The art-deco home of Jacques Majorelle is aesthetically delightful as are the many ponds along the walkways.
To conclude our visit, we spent time in the museum which features six hundred or more items illustrating aspects of traditional Berber (Amazigh) culture.
We then returned to our Riad Palais Des Princesses to relax and recover from a high-density tourist day in Marrakech. We’ve had fun, learnt a lot and enjoyed meeting different people within this fascinating city.
Our room (extending the length of the courtyard) from the opposite side of courtyard, Palais des Princesses
Courtyard from top floor, Palais des Princesses