Marrakech’s Medina and Square

This morning, we were away early, skipping breakfast until later to get to one of Marakech’s most beautiful Islamic buildings before the tourist crowds arrived.

We made our way slowly to the Ben Youseff  Madrassa through the old town. It was still dark and quiet – only a few stores were opeing and the cats were roaming the streets looking for food.

The Madrasa Ben Youssef, is an architectural treasure nestled in the heart of the old Medina of Marrakech. It has a glorious past and has a deep historical significance. It transports you to a fascinating era where art, knowledge, and culture flourished – back to the days of Sultan Abdullah Al-Ghaleb Assaadi who built this Islamic school between the years 1564 and 1565.

His Majesty King Mohammed VI, visited this building in 2017 and decreed that it should be restored. It is now a wonderful example of islamic art with its carvings and mosaics. I stood in its central courtyard and watched visitors eyes and mouths open in surprise as they first saw this wonderful sight. Our tour leader had an arrangement for us to gain entry ten minutesd before the official opening so that we could take photos wthout other tourists in them. This enabled us to shoot an overview and then take images of the details once people were inside.

We then had a Moroccan breakfast in a neaby cafe before explored the labyrinth of alleys through the Medina (old town). It hard to describe this place with the bustling people, hundreds of litle shops and an enormous variery of things for sale. I’ll add some images later in this post and let them tell their own story.

By 1.30 pm we were back at our Riad with some time to sort out our photos. By this time of day, the light was very harsh and not good for taking photos. The shadows were deep and the contrast with the bright sun was strong.

Around 3.30 pm, we ventured back out and across the main square to walk up to Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in Marrakech. The mosque’s minaret has been standing guard over the old city since it was erected it in the 12th century. Today it’s Marrakesh’s most famous landmark. The tower has a monumental display of Moorish ornament: scalloped keystone arches, jagged crenelations and mathematically pleasing proportions that are all important in Islamic culture.

The ‘call to prayer’ began at 4.00 pm and there were lots of people in the area. Unlike Christian churches that are open all the time, this mosque seems to be only open at prayer times. Non Muslim people are not allowed to enter the mosque anyway.

For the last part of the day, we sat in the rooftop terrace of one of the resaurants along the edge of the main square. It was easy to spend time watching the crowd and waiting for the sunset.

To get there, we had to cross the square and run the gauntlet of a variety of people who all wanted us to pay them for a photo. 

One of them were water sellers. Their history dates back many centuries ago because they played a very important role for water- trade in the Moroccan desert. They also used to distribute water to the old medina houses of Marrakech . This tradition of water distribution remained unchanged for ages with them serving their customers from a tar lined goatskin bag. Today, water sellers are one of the components of the big square’s ‘entertainment’. Tourists are requested to take their picture and give them some coins in return.

Another group of people have Barbary macaque monkeys that are exploited for money as props for tourist photographs. These animals have chains around their necks and are dragged from visitor to visitor. Many are dressed in clothes or nappies, and all are exposed to crowds of people and loud noises with anywhere to hide. They are manhandled, sometimes hit, and crammed into dark travelling crates. We were advised not to pay for a photo of these animals as it only encourages their mistreatment.

The third group to avoid are the snake charmers. They are the most annoying as the whine of the snake charmer’s flute is loud and repetitive. This decorative wind instrument acts as the call of the snake charmer to the tourists that wander past. Alongside are often hissing cobras, coiled around themselves, on the ground on mats.

Jemaa El Fna square is filled with this monotonous music which is meant to  hypnotise the snakes, making them dance and provide a perfect photo opportunity. Of course this is not the truth. In fact, a huge amount of cruelty has taken place in order to make the snakes less dangerous and the creatures you see in front of the snake charmer are already dying a slow and painful death.

Our day ended with a golden sunset behind the mosque.

Now for some photos that show the sights we found in the Medina. There’s no need for explanation. They just provide a snapshot of our experience in walking through the labyrinth of streets and lanes.