A local guide took us on a walking tour of the Marrakech medina this morning. Marrakech is an imperial city – that is, it is or has been the site of a king’s palace. The city was established in 1042 as a trading centre with the walls being built during the 11th and 12th centuries. Marrakech is full of tourists! Issam tells me it has always been thus. Though the city is fascinating, I felt I had left the “real Morocco” behind in our previous stops.
We visited the Palace Bahia, home to prime ministers until 1912 when the French arrived and confiscated it for their own use. “Bahia” is Arabic for beautiful or magnificent. Here is where the wives hung out:
The tour took us to the Tombeaux Sadiens, the tomb of prime ministers and other important people. “Sadiens” means happy in Arabic. Was that happy for those who were glad to be finally left behind, or for those on their future journey??
We next visited a carpet company. Two women demonstrated carpet making though they were there only for tourist purposes. All the carpets this firm sells are made by artisans around Morocco. Sadly for the company, none of us were in carpet buying mode though the range of colour and style was impressive.
We also walked past the Koutoubia Mosque, a Marrakech landmark. Its minaret can be seen 25 km from the centre of the city. “Koutoubia” means books in Arabic. The grounds in front of the mosque used to be prime book-selling territory. I was prepared to Photoshop out the black structure on top until our guide joked that it was used to dispatch wives who didn’t know how to cook. (Yikes!) But in fact every minaret has a “crane” on top; it points to Mecca.
The main square in Marrakeh is Jemaa El Fna which buzzes day and night, but especially after 7 pm. There are (fake) snake charmers, strength testers, stand up comedians, drag queens who pray for the forgiveness of others’ sins, vendors of all imaginable trinkets, t-shirt, jelaba and caftan shops, fresh food and prepared. The souk branches off from this square. Here are some photos from the square.
Two places I visited deserve special mention: the Jardin Majorelle and the Yves St. Laurent Museum. Jacques Majorelle, a French man, created the garden in 1886. By 1980 the garden was a mess. Yves St. Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé purchased the garden, restored it, created a Berber museum within the garden, and opened it to the public. The garden is a symphony of cacti with a few flowers and some bamboo thrown in for good measure.
The temporary exhibition at the Museum was a collaboration by a poet, a scuptor and a musician, spiritual for those who dig that kind of thng. There was also a wonderful display of St. Laurent creations and, of course, a VERY expensive gift shop. Cheryl, Ellen, Terri and I had lunch at the Museum cafe, sitting beside a decorative infinity pool. These oases of calm in the middle of busy Marrakech are not to be missed.
Today marked the end of the tour for eight of our number. They would be going to Casablanca and then back to the US the following day. The five solo women, including myself, would be continuing on the optional tour to Essaouira. We were all taken on a lengthy calèche ride through the ville nouvelle, where we spotted another of the Hendrik Beikrich “Tracing Morocco” wall installations. I first mentioned this project in one of my Rabat posts.
OAT treated us to an excellent farewell dinnner where our group posed for a photo. Issam is kneeling front and centre. 🙂 I can heartily recommend this tour to anyone interested in Morocco!!
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