Other sights in Marrakesh
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Saadian Tombs
Anyone who says you can’t take it with you hasn’t seen the Saadian Tombs. Saadian Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour ed-Dahbi spared no expense on his tomb, importing Italian Carrara marble and gilding honeycomb muqarnas (plasterwork) archways with pure gold to make the Chamber of the 12 Pillars a suitably glorious final resting place. This Marrakshi Midas played favourites even in death, keeping alpha-male princes handy in the Chamber of the Three Niches, and relegating to garden plots some 170 chancellors and wives – all overshadowed by his mother’s large mausoleum with intricate woodwork spandrels in the courtyard, exposed to the elements but vigilantly guarded by stray cats.…
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Mellah
The mellah, situated south of Bahia Palace, is the historic home to most of Marrakesh’s Jewish community. Only a few Jewish families remain in these narrow derbs (alleys) – most moved to Casablanca, Israel or France in the 1950s – but you can still spot Star of David symbols proudly emblazoned on old doors, and witness cross-alley gossip in progress through wrought-iron mellah balconies.
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Matisse Art Gallery
On the right along the Passage Ghandouri pedestrian corridor you’ll spot the polished black-marble front of Matisse Art Gallery, where you’ll be greeted by ethereal figures in beeswax and natural pigments by Marrakesh’s most famous artist, Mahi Binebine, and henna paintings evoking Berber baraka (blessings) by Farid Belkahia.
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Maison Tiskiwin
Travel to Timbuktu and back again, via the private art collection of Dutch anthropologist Bert Flint on display in his house, the Maison Tiskiwin. Each room represents a region of Morocco with indigenous crafts, from well-travelled Tuareg leather camel saddles to fine Middle Atlas carpets – the gold standard by which to judge the ones in the souqs. See if you can spot such recurring motifs as the khamsa (hand of Fatima) and the Southern Cross, the constellation that guided desert travellers. Maison Tiskiwin gives the impression of a traditional Marrakshi home, complete with tantalising aromas of home cooking.
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Galerie Ré
Head across Ave Mohammed V and down Rue ibn Toumert to check out next-generation art stars at Galerie Ré. Keep an eye out for Amina Benbouchta’s hieroglyphically minimalist paintings, Mauoal Bouchaïb’s petroglyph-inspired etchings, editions of poetry illustrated by gallery artists, and gallery opening soirées (always packed, always fabulous).
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Galerie Noir sur Blanc
The Galerie Noir sur Blanc showcases major Moroccan talent, including elemental calligraphic paintings by Marrakshi Larbi Cherkaoui.
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Fondouqs
Since medieval times, most Marrakshis in the medina lived not in fancy riads but fondouqs, rooming houses with artisans’ studios at ground level and camel parking in the courtyard. If you ever wonder where Marrakesh gets its wild ideas and creativity from, check out some of the 140 fondouqs that remain in the medina. Look for doors propped open to sprawling fondouqs near Place Bab Ftueh, Rue Dar el-Bacha, Souq el-Fassi (near the Ali ben Youssef Medersa) and Rue Mouassine.
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Bahia Palace
Imagine what you could build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years, and here you have it: the Bahia Palace. Located near Place des Ferblantiers, La Bahia (The Beautiful) boasts floor-to-ceiling decoration begun by Grand Vizier Si Moussa in the 1860s and further embellished in 1894–1900 by slave-turned-vizier Abu ‘Bou’ Ahmed. The painted, gilded, inlaid woodwork ceilings still have the intended effect of subduing crowds, while the carved stucco is cleverly slanted downward to meet the gaze.
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Mouassine Fountain
The medina had 80 fountains at the start of the 20th century, and each neighbourhood relied on its own for water for cooking, public baths, orchards and gardens. The Mouassine Fountain is a classic example, with carved wood details and has continued its use as a neighbourhood wool-drying area and gossip source.
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Koubba Ba’adiyn
No one knows why the Almohads spared the Koubba Ba’adiyn. They destroyed everything else their Almoravid predecessors built in Marrakesh, yet they overlooked one small, graceful 12th-century koubba (shrine), probably used for ablutions. This architectural relic reveals what Almohad Hispano-Moresque architecture owes to the Almoravids: keyhole arches, ribbed vaulting, interlaced carved arabesques and a domed cupola on a crenellated base.
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Synagogue
Local guides may usher you into the local synagogue, still in use, and the miaâra, or Jewish cemetery, where the gatekeeper will let you in to see bright whitewashed tombs topped with piles of rocks for remembrance (Dh10 tip expected). But to see the vibrant living legacy of mellah spice traders and artisans, check out the Mellah Market and artisans’ showrooms in and around Place des Ferblantiers.
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Dar Bellarj
Flights of fancy come with the territory at Dar Bellarj, a stork hospital (bellarj is Arabic for stork) turned into Marrakesh’s premier arts centre. Each year the non-profit Dar Bellarj Foundation adopts a program theme: in 2007 it was storytelling through film (the centre briefly closed to host a Moroccan film academy) and 2008 focused on women’s twin traditions of textiles and storytelling. Arabic calligraphy demonstrations, art openings, crafts exhibits and arts workshops are regular draws for locals and visitors alike; mint tea is graciously offered free with admission. It’s located at the corner of Ali ben Youssef Medersa.
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Koutoubia Mosque
Five times a day, one voice rises above the Djemaa din in the adhan, or call to prayer: that’s the muezzin calling the faithful in all four cardinal directions atop the minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque The Koutoubia minaret is the ultimate Marrakshi muezzin gig. This 12th-century 70m-high tower is the architectural prototype for Seville’s La Giralda in Spain and Rabat’s Le Tour Hassan, and it’s a monumental cheat sheet of Moorish ornament: scalloped keystone arches, jagged merlons (crenellations), and mathematically pleasing proportions. Originally the minaret was sheathed in Marrakshi pinkish plaster, but experts opted to preserve its exposed stone and time-tested chara…
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Ali ben Youssef Medersa
When faced with something too magnificent for words, Moroccans say allahuakbar, meaning God is great – and allahuakbar describes the Ali ben Youssef Medersa. Look up in the entry hall, and feel suddenly small under intricately carved cedar cupolas and mashrabiyya (wooden-lattice screen) balconies. Enter the medersa’s (theological college) courtyard, and you’re surrounded by Hispano-Moresque wonders of five-colour, high-lustre zellij (mosaic) and ingenious Iraqi-style Kufic stucco, with letters intertwined in leaves and knots.
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