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Marrakech History |
Getting to Marrakesh Marrakesh is easily accessible by air, road and rail. There are direct flights from French and some other European cities to Marrakesh-Menara airport, and seven trains a day to Casablanca (journey time 4hours) with onward connections to the rest of Morocco. There are also good bus and grand-taxi connections with all major cities though the journey times are long. For drivers, the roads outside Marrakesh are rarely crowded. However, the Marrakesh-Casablanca road is reputed for the high number of accidents. So drive carefully. The Moroccan authorities organize campaigns for road security during the summer holidays where the roads know the highest traffic. So if you are driving to Marrakesh in the summer, expect to stop several times at police checkpoints. If you are a foreigner, expect to be treated with particular attention. Marrakesh is a particularly good arrival point to Morocco because of its centrality. It is located in the intersection of routes to Essaouira (southern historical Atlantic city) to Ouarzazate (key to gorges south the Atlas) and to Northern imperial cities. Marrakesh-Menara airport is a short taxi ride from the city (some 50Dhs during the day and around 70 Dhs during the night). If you come by train then the heart of the city is just a few minutes by taxi (say 10Dhs). Inter-city busses arrive at Bab Doukkala (15 minutes walk to Jamaa El Fna). In Marrakesh you can rent a car (the prices vary widely from one agency to another). Marrakesh is a spread out city built on a plain ; thus the big number of motorcycles. The rental of a two wheeler is also an option. Finally, a lot of tourists prefer the picturesque option of riding through the city in a ‘calèche’ (a horse-drawn carriage). Remember that taking a calèche to open areas such as the menara or the ‘Palmeraie gardens’ is a very good idea. It is a less good one however when it comes to high traffic areas. Take a taxi instead and do not forget to have change handy. Some taxi-drivers do not care about meters. Some do that because they know the prices to known city parts by heart and others to get extra money. Anyway, a short ride from Gueliz (modern city) to Jamaa El Fna should not exceed 10 Dhs. The ‘Hassle’ which deterred some tourists years ago is significantly decreased by the unseen but vigilant presence of the ‘Brigade touristique’. Annoying unwanted people hassling tourists (those are often non-recognized guides) run the risk of bearing criminal charges. Therefore, in some cases, if you have a genuine Moroccan friend, you might have to convince the brigade that he is causing no problems to you. A Moroccan having friends abroad is advised to declare to the authorities that he is willing to host foreigners. He is delivered a permit to accompany them and is safe from the questions of the ‘Brigade touristique’. The history of the city Although Marrakesh has been occupied since Neolithic times, it was first founded properly in 1062 by Youssef Ben Tachfine, the Almoravid leader. As a base from which to control the high Atlas Mountains. A kasbah, Dar el Hajar was build near the koutoubia mosque site. Under Youssef Ben Tachfine, Marrakesh was an important capital and marketing centre with the building of its mosques, places and well-known walls as well as the development of extensive gardens and irrigation system. The population was probably a mixture of haratine or blacks from Oued Draa, Berbers from the Souss valley and the nearby Atlas, and Jewish Berbers. The city attracted leading mediaeval thinkers from outside Marrakesh. Marrakesh was taken by the Almohads in 1147 who almost totally destroyed, and rebuilt the city making it making it the capital of their extensive empire. Under the Almohad Sultan Abdul Moumen the Koutoubia Mosque was built on the site of Almoravid buildings, with the minaret added by Yaakub Al Mansour. Under the latter, Marrakesh gained palace, gardens and irrigation works, and again became a famous centre for musicians, writers and academics, but on his death it declined and fell to disarray. Whilst the Merinids added several Medressa to Marrakesh, Fès received much of their attention, and was preferred as capital, although from 1374 to 1386 Marrakesh was the centre of a separate prinicipality. Marrakesh was revitalised by the Saadians from 1524 with the rebuilding of the Benyoussef mosque, and the construction by Ahmed Al Mansour Ad-Dahbi of the El Badi Palace and the Saadian Tombs. Marrakesh also became an important trading post, during to its location between the Sahara and the Atlantic. The Alaouites took control of Marrakesh in 1668. In the early 18th century the city suffered from Moulay Islmail’s love of Meknes, with many of the major buildings, notably El Badi palace, stripped to glorify the new capital, and a significant shift in power and wealth. The instructive effects of this period were compounded by civil strife following his death. However, under the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Hassan I, from 1873, and his son, Marrakesh gained a number of important buildings and re-established its prestige. From 1898 Thami Lglaoui and his family controlled the city as a powerful Pasha with considerable autonomy from the central control. A number of leading merchants built palaces in the city. The French took control of Marrakesh and its region in 1912, crushing an insurrection by a claimant to the Sultanate. The French built the ville nouvelle, Gueliz, in the 20th century, but Marrakesh stagnated in comparison with the coastal cities of Casablanca and Rabat. In the recent decades the city has grown enormously, with the authorities developing its tourist appeal and capacity, as well as its role as a reference centre. Famous sites Djemaa El Fna It’s a unique place in Morocco. Perhaps the greatest pull for tourists, yet still a genuine social area for the Marrakshi people, and those flooding in from the surrounding regions, with much aimed solely at Moroccans. It is a large irregular space of people hawking their goods or talents and others watching, walking, talking and arguing. Its activity never seems to finish and at each point of the day has a distinctive character. It is particularly memorable in Ramadan when the day’s fast ends. Whatever the time of the day or year, Djemaa El Fna is a place a visitor will return to again and again responding to the magnetic pull of that affects locals as well as tourists. According to many, Djamaa El Fna means the ‘assembly of the dead’ and refer to the display of criminals’ heads executed until the 19th century. Some others make a different approach. Djamaa means ‘mosque’, a word most frequently used, even today, to refer to a mosque in spoken Arabic ; and Fna means place or wide area. This word is also existent in classical and even spoken Arabic though not as widely used as Djamaa. Djamaa El Fna thus means ‘the mosque of the place’. To our view this is the most likely etymological explanation of the name since there is a mosque “Djamaa” in the corner of the place “Fna”. During the day you can explore the stalls and collections of goods spread out on the ground : fruit, herbs and spices, clothes, shoes, alarm clocks and radios, handicrafts too ; there are snake charmers and monkey tanners, watersellers and widely grinning Gnaoua musicians with giant metal castanets. All too ready to pose for photographs. Under their umbrellas the fortune tellers and scribes wait for their clients. In the evening, the crowds change again, a mix of students and people pausing in the way home. You may see tumblers, boxers or story tellers and you will certainly see many food stalls. Musicians are part of the scene. Some of whom exclusively sing Marrakshi songs but others do sing other things as the Berber singers singing in Berber and others signing country songs ‘Aitas’. There are other groups that would sing Jil Jilala or Nas Elghiwan songs (activist groups of the 1970s). There are also singers who will sing anything that pleases the crowd to receive more money. There are also Nekkashats (women that would draw designs on your hand with henna syringes). There are also stalls with tea urns selling cinnamon and ginseng tea with little dishes of black powdery slilou, a spicy sweet paste. Djamaa EL Fna has recently received international recognition for its contribution to the human oral heritage. The Koutoubia Mosque The Koutoubia Mosque is to Marrakesh what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris and the Liberty Statute is to New York. The 65 meter high minaret dominates Marrakesh.
Bahia Palace Bahia Bahia Palace Bahia means 'briliant'. It was built in the last yers of the 19th century by the vizir Ba Ahmed ben Moussa, or Bou Ahmed, a former slave who exercised considerable power under sultans Moulay Hassan and And El Aziz. The palace has the Andalusian inspired decor of the period, although executed in a garish fashion which does not do justice to the craftsmanship of the city. It is a maze of corridors, passageways and staircases. Bou Ahmed was so hated that, on hid death in 1900, his palace was looted and and his possessions stolen by slaves, servants and members of his harem. The building is centered around a marble paved courtyard 50 meters x 30 meters, the walls covered with ceramic tiles and round the sides a glazed gallery which stood on wooden columns. There is a colorful garden known as the Grand Riad or Moorish Garden which was planted with fruit trees (bananas and oranges) cypress trees and fragrant flowers. The apartments of the favourite wife looked out on this garden and also on to a smaller, private patio
The Jewish quarter The Jewish quarter The mellah was created in 1558. This lies south of the palace and to the west of the Badi palace. This is an extensive quarter reflecting the community's historic importance to the city, when they were involved in the sugar trade and banking, as well as providing most of the jewellers, metalworkers and tailors. There were different synagogues and under the control of their rablis, the area had considerable autonomy. There are now few Jews left, but the quarter is still distinct in cramped houses and narrow streets. Conditions here remain worse than in much of the Medina, with unpaved roads and insanitary drainage. It is worth asking around to be let into one of the Synagogues
The ryad Dar Najat is an active member of (AMHMS) guest houses association of Marrakech and South
classified by the authorities of Marrakech.
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