Currently closed for restoration that's scheduled to finish in spring 2020, this Quranic learning centre was once the largest in North Africa and remains among the most splendid. ‘You who enter my door, may your highest hopes be exceeded’ reads the inscription over the entryway, and after almost six centuries, the blessing still works its charms on visitors. It was founded in the 14th century under the Merinids, but fully kitted out with its exuberantly ornate decoration in 1565 in the Saadian era.
Ali Ben Youssef Medersa
Kâat Ben Nahid & Bab Debbagh
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.13 MILES
French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought Jardin Majorelle in 1980 to preserve the vision of its original owner,…
0.45 MILES
Roll up, roll up for the greatest show on earth. Everywhere you look in Djemaa El Fna, Marrakesh’s main square (pronounced "jema" – the "d" is silent),…
1.23 MILES
This captivating museum, opened in 2017, showcases finely selected collections of haute couture clothing and accessories that span 40 years of creative…
0.78 MILES
La Bahia (The Beautiful) is an 8000-sq-metre, floor-to-ceiling extravagance of intricate marquetry, plasterwork and zouak (painted wood), and certainly…
0.71 MILES
Five times a day, one voice rises above the din of Djemaa El Fna as the muezzin calls the faithful to prayer from the Koutoubia Mosque. The mosque's…
1.04 MILES
Saadian Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour Ed Dahbi was just as extravagant in death as he was in life. After the "golden king" built Badia Palace in the 16th…
0.95 MILES
As 16th-century Sultan Ahmed Al Mansour (r 1578-1603) was paving the Badia Palace with gold, turquoise and crystal, his court jester wisecracked, ‘It’ll…
0.21 MILES
The foundations of this historic riad are more than 400 years old, and it was once owned by powerful qaid (local chief) U-Bihi. Here, though, it's not the…
Nearby Kâat Ben Nahid & Bab Debbagh attractions
0.01 MILES
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…
0.04 MILES
The Musée de Marrakech exhibits a collection of Moroccan art forms within the decadent salons of the Mnebhi Palace. The central internal courtyard, with…
0.06 MILES
The Almohads destroyed almost everything their Almoravid predecessors built in Marrakesh but overlooked this graceful 12th-century koubba (shrine) across…
0.08 MILES
Opened in 2019 as a sister museum to MACMA in Gueliz, this small private gallery beautifully displays the big guns of Orientalist painting inside a 17th…
0.12 MILES
Marrakesh's medina is dotted with public water fountains, but the Chrob ou Chouf ('Drink or Look') fountain still holds on to shreds of former finery with…
0.13 MILES
When Parisian Patrick Menac’h and Marrakshi Hamid Mergani realised they were both collecting vintage Moroccan photography, they decided to open a…
0.14 MILES
Spread over three floors, Marrakesh's Museum of Women was launched in 2018 by a passionate bunch of locals intent on championing women's important role in…
0.15 MILES
On the corner where Rue Amesfah splits, note the jewel-like door with stained glass, centuries-old carved wooden lintel and plasterwork detailing in the…