Marrakesh Things to Do Tips by angiebabe

For the first time after about 15 visits to Morocco, and lots of previous purchases and haggling but usually with the comfort of my own local, this time on my own and looking after my best friend that i was taking on a tour of my Morocco! i was finally going to take the recommended advice and go check out the prices and qualities at the Ensemble Artisanal before we went off and did any serious shopping.

I would actually recommend it - there were some things such as leather pouffes that i have bought numerous of in the past at Asilah and with hard haggling at the Marrakech souk and was pleased to see that the prices we had previously got were a third of the price of the ensemble.
But things like babouches, it really gives you an idea of how cheap they should be at the souks and what prices not to accept. There were some prices that were pretty good at the ensemble such as some very pretty fabric pouffes that i was tempted to buy there and then.

Ladies gandoras were only 60 dhm in the ensemble so how cheap they might be out in the souks! etc etc.
It was nice to visit these shops and not get accosted and confronted every 2 seconds, or even every 10 minutes for that matter! and it was interesting to see some of the crafts at work such as the carpet weaving - showed me how cheap the carpets can be and when buying it really is about the quality of the wool when comparing prices. My friend enjoyed being invited to join in and have a go at putting in one knot of wool into one of the rugs being made!
The centre remained open during the usual 1-2 hour lunch break so you could still roam around and some of the shops stayed open but shops such as the rugs we had to wait until opened again at 215pm

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Address: Avenue Mohammed V
Directions: on main road Ave Mohammed V half way between Place de la Liberte in the ville nouvelle and the Koutoubia mosque.

The beautiful Marjorelle Gardens, renovated by Yves Saint Laurent who also lives in the mansion next door, is for me a place i can never visit too often.

visited again just last week when taking a friend for her first visit to Morocco. Like me she loves gardens and was really impressed with this garden. She also agreed with my recommendations to visit the small but rather interesting islamic museum that is housed in the blue building that you see in pretty much all the photos of the gardens!

This is my 4th visit, still i guess not so many visits, but its been lovely each time. Of course the light is different, different time of year, different people and mood etc!!

Its a haven in the middle of busy and bustling Marrakech with its crazy driving and hooting drivers, the busy souk with constant calls and hustle for attention, and even from the summer heat its a cooler retreat.

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Directions: catch a taxi or even better a caleche ride to take you there!! the route will include beautiful bouginvillea covered mansions and walls along the side streets to get you there.

just sitting on a seat in amongst the orange trees in the Koutoubia gardens and breathing in the beautiful scent of the orange flowers is an enjoyable thing to do!!breath in slow and deeply! when the roses are in bloom is another delightful time to be in amongst the vegetation also!

for some interesting info on the mosque - very significant mosque to Marrakech and Morocco and the Andalucian world - an Almohad sultan got this going in 1147 to celebrate his win over the Almoravids and set about to build one of the largest mosques in the western muslim world.
This mosque later served as a model for the La Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat.
The prayer hall can fit up to 20,000 people!! and an interesting thing to read about the tower is that its 70 metre height obeys the Almohad architecture canons of its height equalling five times its width.

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Directions: cant miss it! the highest building in marrakech at 70 m high - once youre there youre at the centre of town! - or if youre at the centre of town youll find koutoubia! between Ave Mohammed V and Ave Houmman El Fetouaki

As you will see when you are travelling around Morocco and including the streets of Marrakech, as modern and europeanised it looks, especially when you compare with say another North Africa country as Tunisia where i hardly saw any donkeys!, donkeys and mules are used in a big way in the everyday lives of the locals.

In and around the medina you will see many donkeys in use - ie the old town centre of Marrakech - especially with the old narrow and winding streets that the small but hardy and strong donkeys seemed ideally matched for.

I really have a thing for donkeys! - cute and photogenic - certainly adds to the character of our visits to the culture here and to the look we get to see of local life in the medina.

For the local trying to eke out a living the donkey still has the advantage too of being much easier to look after and with less running costs than the modern vehicular replacements!

As has been a common complaint in the past it still can be a problem of these animals, as with the horses pulling the caleches, not being looked after as appreciatedly as they deserve. Though a major appeal or advantage of the donkey is that they are strong and have great endurance and are able to carry loads much heavier than their own body weight it can be distressing to see situations of donkeys being seen with loads that are obviously above what they should be enduring ie trailers or carts with huge wheel bases on them! along with the load in the trailer and then maybe two passengers!

There is the organisation Spana (www.spana.org.ma or in the UK www.spana.org) founded in 1959 by a British woman and her daughter and now Moroccan run, with not only the advantage of providing care or haven, such as animal hospitals including mobile hospitals in the souks, for abused animals but also to educate donkey, mule and horse owners of acceptable care of their animals and work resources.

Apparently if you witness any problems you can contact the police or the Centre Hospitalier pour Animaux in Marrakech.

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Phone: 024 303110
Website: www.spana.org.ma

what a beautiful building to visit! what ive been missing all this time, all these visits to Marrakech and only just got here now!
This beautiful building was a palace built at the end of the 19th century by the grand vizier of the Sultan Moulay Mehdi Hassan and built in the style of a traditional moorish riad.

This house is beautiful! Beautiful examples of zellij (ceramic tile )work - and painted wooden ceilings and stucco - and a most beautiful central courtyard with fountains and very impressive central lantern.

The lonely planet guidebook suggests that a visit to this house gives the visitor an insight into household features such as the original hammam/bathhouse - i have visited and stayed in several myself - but i found that with a lack of information available or provided for the visitor, such as a guidebook to selfguide when touring around the house, the beginner is reliant on his or her own seeking and perusing - but the place is so beautiful its incredibly motivating to go through the maze of rooms and check out everything that can be encountered.
And its also a museum so along the way see some lovely examples of carpets, art and paintings and costumes and items of jewellery.

Open 9-6pm, good to know it doesnt shut for a lunchbreak!and you have the budget option of a combo ticket for 60 dirham to visit the musuem, the also very beautiful Ben Yousseff Medresa and the nearby Qoubba. or just a solo ticket for 40 dirham.
For what i found rather difficult to understand the reasoning you must finish up at the Qoubba and therefore cannot go just across the way to the Qoubba and then finish at the medresa but go down to it and then back up to the Qoubba!! but the deal is still worth it! and the whole 3 are recmmended visits.

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Phone: + 212 (0)44 39 09 11/12
Address: Place Ben Youssef

I was so impressed to see this place!
and so umimpressed that i had been to Marrakech frequently for 3 or 4 years and never got to see this until off on my own bat in March this year!!, and also that ive gone charging around Andalucian Spain to see historical Moorish architecture and design and here is this lovely Medersa!!

I had previously tried to see the famed Bou Inania and El Attarine Medersas in Fes and the one in Sale and all had been closed for renovations - but getting to see the Ben Yousseff was so worthwhile. Luckily this medersa was much restored in the 1960s (in time for my visit!?)

This medersa (Koranic school) is one of the finest and largest in North Africa with a capacity for up to 900 students(?in those tiny little rooms!?)and was founded by a Merenid Sultan in the mid 14th century and then rebuilt by the Saadian sultan Moulay Abdullah in 1565 apparently to express his desire to restore to Marrakech the prestige of an imperial capital and also to affirm his devotion to Allah
.
Its name is taken from the Almoravid mosque of Ali ben Youssef to which it once was attached but architecturally, with its sumptuous decoration, it is still regarded on a par with the other Merenid medersas.

The main entrance door of bronze with a carved cedar lintel opens onto a mosaic paved corridor which leads to the courtyard paved with white marble and ablutions pool. The walls are decorated with zellij tilework and carved plaster (stucco).
The students cells on the ground and upper floors open onto the courtyard and those that are shielded are arranged around 7 smaller interior courtyards.

An ornate doorway leads through to the prayer hall with columns with calligraphy praising
Moulay Abdullah and crowned with a cedar dome. The mihrab is decorated with verses from the koran.
A combo ticket is available for 60 dhm but must be visited in the order of the lovely Musee du Marrakech first, then the Medersa and lastly the Koubba, both only a few mins walk away!

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Phone: + 212 (0)44 39 09 11/12
Address: Place Ben Yousseff
Directions: You will see it marked on any good map of Marrakech, northerly in the medina, sort of in the direction or not far from the Tanners quarters.

Not just a museum with some lovely carpets and artefacts on display, the beautiful ex palace built in the 19th century by the grand vizier of the Sultan in the style of a traditional Moorish house, has some very lovely finishing touches with beautiful or sumptuous! ceilings and walls and pillars and doors!

Built as a traditional riad it certainly has some beautiful zellij ie colourful patterned tiles - and stucco ie carved plasterwork - and muqarna - the elaborate wooden stalactite things you see - and then some lovely paintwork too especially on the ceilings and doors.

and some huge and impressive candelabra!

40 dirham as a single entry ticket or better value buy a combo ticket for 60 dirham to see all 3 of this Musee du Marrakech, then the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa and then finishing up at the Koubba over the square from this Musee.

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Phone: + 212 (0)44 39 09 11/12
Address: Place Ben Yousseff
Directions: Up near the Ben Yousseff Medresa and the Qoubba

The name given to this fountain/water source is translated as 'drink and admire'.
I wanted to find, see and photograph this as its described in my book as a Saadian fountain and one of the most beautiful in the medina of Marrakech.

Built during the reign of Ahmed el-Mansour (who reigned 1578-1603) it is shaded by a carved cedar awning with colourful zellij tilework and inscriptions in cursive and Kufic script carved into the wood.

Many of the leading citizens of Marrakech financed the building of fountains so that obeying the Koran they would be providing water to the thirsty. In a town like Marrakech, water of course was and is a very precious commodity and an underground network of channels supplied the mosques and houses and fed these fountains.

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Address: Rue Amesfah, near the Ben Yousseff Mosque
Directions: With a good map its not so difficult to find though we took the easy way out and paid a guide for a short time who showed us the tanneries and various souks with their views and then to this fountain and back to the main square.

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A koubba is a cube like building crowned by a dome and housing the tomb of a venerated person.

This brick built dome is the only example of Almoravid architecture in Marrakech. It was under the Almoravids that Moorish style developed in Morocco with Andalusian elements including horseshoe and lobed arches, kufic script and floral decoration, scrolling acanthus leat motif and the use of decorative plasterwork.

Built by Ali Ben Youssef in 1106 it originally was part of a richly decorated mosque that was demolished by the Almohads (12th-13th century) which miraculously was spared and rediscovered in 1948.

It contained an ablutions pool which was fed by 3 reservoirs. The exterior is decorated with chevrons and pointed arches and the interior has scalloped and horseshoe arches and floral ornamentation.

Tickets are available for the koubba as part of the 'visit 3 for 60 dirham' starting with the Museum du Marrakech, the Ben Youssef Medersa and in this order only, finishing with the visit to the Koubba.

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Address: Place Ben youssef
Directions: over the 'road' from the Musee du Marrakech and a few minutes away from the Ben Youssef medersa