City Information
Marrakech is one of the most fascinating towns in the North of Africa. If you accompany me, you will see the many reasons to spend here several days: the old Medina -- with its palaces, mosques, madrasas, and its unforgettable Jemaa El Fna Square, its people, its cuisine, its markets, its aromas, its sounds, and so on.
You go back in time once you arrive in Marrakesh. You can easily imagine the caravaneers loading their camels with food, tools and handiwork as you wander through the picturesque alleys of the old town. The souks contain everything that a traveller could want: colour, atmosphere and smells, welcoming and smiling faces. The Semmarine souk specialises in clothing. You will find many typical clothes made traditionally in the narrow streets surrounding the souk. Some stalls sell jewellery and often antiques as well. The famous Jemaa El Fna is a medieval world where, day and night, storytellers, shopkeepers and snake charmers vie for your attention. Mischievous monkeys will accost you. You will be able to see the splendid minaret of the Koutoubia mosque. This 12th century Hispano-Moorish masterpiece inspired the builders of the Giralda in Seville. Amateurs of the eternal Orient will want to visit the splendid Bahia Palace where surprising Andalusian gardens add to the refinement of the prestigious apartments and their secret patios. The Dar Si Said Museum is situated nearby. You should visit it for its great architectural value. It exposes Moroccan art; its collections will help you to plunge into the Moroccan way of life down to its most mundane aspects. It is idyllic for those you love strolling and learning, feeling and experiencing. Take the time to watch and listen...
One of the first sights tourists see when they enter the Medina is the Koutoubia Mosque. This is the largest mosque in town. Its minaret is 230-foot high. It dates back to the 12th century, when the Almohads ruled this part of the world. This Berber dynasty controlled the modern day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Muslim Spain.
The minaret is an example of the Andalusian architecture. Its four sides have a unique decoration. Its walls used to be covered with tiles. The minaret has two twins, one in Seville and another one in Rabat.
Arrival in Marrakech:
Arriving at the train station, on the edge of the new town Gueliz, keep your wits about you as you emerge, or you'll immediately find yourself engaged with a guide or taxi driver. Alternatively book a transfer along with your hotel booking (with or without an English speaking guide) and we will excort you directly to your hotel.
A regular petit taxi (beware unofficial taxis without meters) is a good idea in general, since it's quite a walk to hotels in Gueliz and a long way to the Medina; the taxi fare should be no more than 10dh to the Medina, less to hotels in Gueliz. The #3 and #8 buses run from the station to the Place de Foucauld, alongside Place Djemaa El Fna. However, if you plan to stay at the youth hostel, you should, luggage permitting, be able to walk there from the train station in five minutes or so.
The gare routière (for most long-distance bus services) is just outside the walls of the Medina by Bab Doukkala. You can walk into the centre of Gueliz from here in around ten minutes by following Avenue des Nations Unies; to the Place Djemaa El Fna it's around 25 minutes, most easily accomplished by following the Medina walls down to Avenue Mohammed V. Alternatively, catch the #3 or #8 bus, which run in one direction to the Koutoubia, in the other to Gueliz; or save yourself trouble by taking a petit taxi (about 10dh).
Marrakech History:
The city's founder (as that of the Almoravid dynasty) was Youssef Ben Tachfine, a restless military leader who conquered northern Morocco within two years and then, turning his attention towards Spain, defeated the Christian kings, to bring Andalucia under Moroccan rule. Tachfine maintained both Fes and Marrakesh as bases for his empire, but under his son, the pious Ali Ben Youssef, Marrakesh became very much the dominant centre. Craftsmen and architects from Córdoba worked on the new city: palaces, baths and mosques were built; underground channels, known as khettara, were built to provide water for the town and the growing palmery; and, in 1126/27, the first seven-kilometre circuit of walls was raised, replacing an earlier stockade of thorn bushes. These, many times rebuilt, are essentially the city's present walls – made of tabia, the red mud of the plains, mixed and strengthened with lime.
Taking Marrakesh, devastated by famine, in 1521, and Fes in 1546, the Saadians provided a last burst of imperial splendour. Their first sultans regained the Atlantic coast, which had been extensively colonized by the Portuguese; Ahmed El Mansour, the great figure of the dynasty, defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings and led a conquest of Timbuktu, seizing control of the most lucrative caravan routes in Africa. The El Badi Palace – Marrakesh's largest and greatest building project – was constructed from the proceeds of this new wealth, though it again fell victim to dynastic rivalry and, apart from its mausoleum (the Saadian Tombs), was reduced to ruins by Moulay Ismail, the second, but first effective, sultan of the Alaouite dynasty, who preferred Meknes to Marrakesh.
During the last decades prior to the Protectorate, the city's fortunes revived somewhat as it enjoyed a return to favour with the Shereefian court. Moulay Hassan (1873–94) and Moulay Abd El Aziz (1894–1908) both ran their governments from here in a bizarre closing epoch of the old ways, accompanied by a final bout of frantic palace building. On the arrival of the French, Marrakesh gave rise to a short-lived pretender, the religious leader El Hiba, and for most of the colonial period it was run as a virtual fiefdom of its pasha, T'hami El Glaoui – the most powerful, autocratic and extraordinary character of his age.
Since independence, the city has undergone considerable change, with rural emigration from the Atlas and beyond, new methods of cultivation on the Haouz plain and the development of a sizeable tourist industry. The impressive Palais des Congrès, opened in 1989, has given Marrakesh international prestige, hosting national and international events. All of these factors combine to make Marrakesh Morocco's best-known city and, after Casablanca, the country's largest trading base and population centre – over 1,425,000 at the last estimate.
