Djemaa el-Fna, souqs and medina and other Marrakesh, Morocco Things to Do Tips

When I came back in Marrakesh after 25 years, I couldn't wait to see again the souqs, the medina and especially the Djemaa el- Fna. I was happy to recognise the same enchanting atmosphere.
We first strolled around in the souqs area and at the end of the afternoon we returned to the Djemaa el-Fna, ''the place to be'' at this moment of the day.
The many open air food-stalls with inviting aroma's, the musicians, the snake charmers, the storytellers, they all were still there. Amazing, after twenty five years, I had the same exciting feeling to be there.

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Directions: Downtown Marrakesh

Walking around at the square, I noticed, that the amount of tourists has increased enormously in those 25 years, though they were still the minority and didn't affect the atmosphere. But I realized that I'm not anymore one of the few like in 1975, then at some moments I saw only one or two.
We went to one of the rooftop restaurants for a drink. We stayed there for hours to look at the people, crowded around the street artists and vendors.

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Directions: Donwtown Marrakesh

At a few minutes walk southeast of the busy Djemaa el-Fna square is the Dar Si Said palace, which is now the very interesting Museum of Moroccan arts.

The lovely central courtyard is a nice tranquil place to be, like the whole palace is. After the spectacle in the city and at the square it's very relaxing to spend some time here.

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Phone: 024 389564
Directions: From the Djemaa el-Fna square follow the Rue des Banques and Rue Riad Zitoun el-Jedid. From here it's signposted to the left hand side before you reach Palais de la Bahia.

Dar Si Said is worth to visit, not only because of the museum, but also because the building itself. It has the typical characteristics of the houses in this area.

At the first floor is a nicely decorated room with a abundant carved and painted wooden ceiling. In this museum of Morrocan art you can see a collection of silver jewellery, old muskets, carpets and other local handicrafts.

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Directions: East of the Rue Riad Zitoun el-Jedid, downtown Marrakesh.

From the south-western side you can enter the medina and kasbah through the Bab Agnaou and the Bab Ksiba.
From these gates you reach the part of the medina, where the Royal Palace, the Kasbah mosque, the Saadian Tombs and the Palais el- Badi are.
It's nice to experience the contrast between the busy traffic at the outside of the walls and the peacefullness at the inside. It looks like passing these gates, you enter another world.

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Directions: Rue Sidi Mimoun, downtown Marrakesh.

Near the Kasbah Mosque in the south west part of the medina you will see beautifull decorations of the walls and the buildings.
So it's worth to look up, when you walk around.
If you do so, you can also spot the stork on the roof top. It's amazing to see this stork in the middle of the town near the Royal palace....

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Directions: Downtown Marrakesh

After you entered the walls of the kasbah through the Bab Agnaou or Bab Ksiba, you will see the beautifull Kasbah Mosque.
I liked the terra painted walls of the mosque and especially the green-blue tiled minaret.
This mosque is the second Almohad monument in Marrakech. After rebuilding and restoration, there is hardly anything left of the original construction.
Nexdoor to this mosque are the Saadian Tombs.

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Directions: Downtown Marrakesh

In the south-west part of the medina nextdoor to the Kasbah Mosque are the Saadian Tombs, signposted as " Tombeaux Saadiens".

This necropolis is started by Ahmed Mansour, the second Saadian sultan, in the 16th century, on the side of an older part of the cemetary, which was reserved for descendants of the Prophet.

The mausoleum is divided in three halls. Ahmed Mansour and 65 of his successors and close family are buried under the two main structures.

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Directions: In the old Medina, downtown Marrakesh.

The Saadian Tombs are good examples of Moroccan-Andalucian decorative art. The central hall has columns of Italian marble. The entrance and the walls are beautifully decorated. On the picture you see a detail of the decorated wall.

The tombs are open, daily in the morning and late afternoon. The admission fee is 10 dirham.

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Directions: In the old Medina, downtown Marrakesh.

My first time in Marrakech in 1975 I visited the Majorelle Garden, going there by calèche from the Djemaa el Fna. The memory I had of the garden was the abundant green of bamboo, palmtrees and other tropical trees and plants after coming to Marrkech from my dusty trip in the desert.

After I saw the colourful pictures of the nowadays gardens, I wanted to come back and so I did in 2007. It was a rather short walk from my hotel nearby in the Ville Nouvelle. The explosion of colours I encountered in the garden was more than I ever expected. The purple of the bougainvillaea in combination with the deep blue colour of the villa and the other bright colours like yellow and turquoise were beyond any imagination.

I learned that after my first visit Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, admiring the Majorelle garden, repurchased the garden, founded the Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent Trust for restoration and maintenance of this important inheritance of Jaques Majorelle, the original designer of the gardens.

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Directions: North of Avenue Yacoub el-Mansour
Website: www.jardinmajorelle.com