Holiday Destination: Marrakech

Marrakech is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history. The city of Marrakesh is the capital of the mid southwestern economic region of Marrakech Tensift Al Haouz, near the foothills of the snow capped Atlas Mountains, being also the third largest city in Morocco according to the 2004 census. Like many Moroccan cities, the city of Marrakesh comprises both an old fortified city and modern neighborhoods, the most prominent of which is Gueliz. It is served by Ménara International Airport and a rail link to Casablanca and the north. Marrakesh has the largest traditional Berber market in Morocco and also has one of the busiest squares in Africa and the world, Djemaa el Fna. The square bustles with acrobats, story tellers, water sellers, dancers and musicians. By night food stalls open in the square turning it into a huge busy open air restaurant. The city is divided into two distinct parts the Medina, the historical city, and the new European modern district called Gueliz or Ville Nouvelle.

Climate

Summer 36.8 °C (98.2 °F), Winter 5.9 °C (42.6 °F)

Tourist Season

July and August is the best for visiting Marrakech.

Accommodation

Hotels and Apartments.

General Information Of Marrakech

• Land Area: 1,000 sq mi (2,589 km2)
• Population: 9 Lakh.
• Capital City: Marrakech Tensift El Haouz.
• Language: English.

Tourist Attraction in or Near by Marrakech

Djemaa El Fna (Jemaa-el-Fna)

Jamaa el Fna is a square and market place in Marrakesh's medina quarter. The origin of its name is unclear Jemaa means "congregational mosque" in Arabic, probably referring to a destroyed Almoravid mosque. 'Fanâʼ' or 'finâ' can mean 'death' or 'a courtyard, space in front of a building.' Thus, one meaning could be 'The mosque or assembly of death' or 'The Mosque at the End of the World'. A more likely explanation is that it refers to a mosque with a distinctive courtyard or square in front of it. The place remains the main square of Marrakesh, used by locals and tourists. During the day it is predominantly occupied by orange juice stalls, youths with chained Barbary apes, water sellers in colourful costumes with traditional leather water bags and brass cups, and snake charmers who will pose for photographs for tourists.

The Koutoubia

The Koutoubia Mosque or Kutubiyya Mosque is the largest mosque in Marrakech, Morocco. The minaret was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al Mansur and was used as the model for the Giralda of Seville and for the Hassan Tower of Rabat. It is considered the ultimate structure of its kind. The tower is 69 m in height and has a lateral length of 12.8 m. Six rooms constitute the interior leading around them is a ramp by way of which the muezzin could ride up to the balcony. It is built in a traditional Almohad style and the tower is adorned with four copper globes. According to legend, the globes were originally made of pure gold, and there were once supposed to have been only three globes. The fourth globe was donated by the wife of Yaqub el Mansur as compensation for her failure to keep the fast for one day during the month of Ramadan. She had her golden jewelry melted down to form the fourth globe. The minaret of the Koutoubia is nearly 70 metres high and was the model for the minaret of the Giralda mosque in Seville, which in turn has influenced thousands of church towers in Spain and Eastern Europe.

Agdal Gardens

The Agdal Gardens to the south of Dar El Makhzen, the Royal Palace, and the medina in Marrakech, Morocco. Their name derives from the Berber language for "walled meadow". Extending for some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), the gardens include groves of orange, lemon, fig, apricot and pomegranate trees in rectangular plots, linked by olive lined walkways. Together with the medina of Marrakech and the Menara Gardens, the Agdal Gardens were listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985. The gardens were created as an orchard by Abd al Mu'min of the Almohad dynasty in the 12th century. They were renovated by the Saadi dynasty and then enlarged during the reign of Moulay Abderrahmane in the 19th century, when they were enclosed with pisé walls.

Atlas Mountains

The Atlas Mountains is a mountain range across a north-western stretch of Africa extending about 2,500 km through Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The highest peak is Toubkal, with an elevation of 4,167 metres in southwestern Morocco. The Atlas ranges separate the Mediterranean and Atlantic coastlines from the Sahara Desert. The population of the Atlas Mountains are mainly Berbers. The terms for mountain in some Berber languages are adrar and adras, believed to be cognate with the toponym. The mountains have been home to a number of plant and animal species unique in Africa, often more like those of Europe many of them are endangered and some have already gone extinct. Examples include the Barbary Macaque, the Atlas Bear, the Barbary Leopard, the Barbary stag, Barbary Sheep, the Barbary Lion, the Atlas Mountain Badger, the North African Elephant, the African Aurochs, Cuvier's Gazelle, the Northern Bald Ibis, Dippers, the Atlas mountain viper, the Atlas Cedar, the European Black Pine, and the Algerian Oak.

Tanning

Tanning is the process of treating skins of animals to produce leather, which is more durable and less susceptible to decomposition. Coloring may occur during tanning. A tannery is the term for a place where the skins are processed. Tanning leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin. Making 'rawhide' does not require the use of tannin. Rawhide is made by removing the flesh and fat and then the hair by use of an aqueous solution this process is often called 'liming' when using lime and water or 'bucking' when using wood ash, then scraping over a beam with a somewhat dull knife, then drying. The two aforementioned solutions for removing the hair also act to clean the fiber network of the skin and allow penetration and action of the tanning agent, so that all the steps in preparation of rawhide except drying are often preludes to the more complex process of tanning and production of leather. Tanning can be performed with either vegetable or mineral methods.

El Badi Palace

El Badi Palace is located in Marrakech, Morocco, and these days it consists of the remnants of a palace commissioned by the Saadian Sultan Ahmad al Mansur in 1578. The building of the palace was financed by a ransom paid by Portugal after the Battle of Three Kings. The original building is thought to have consisted of 360 rooms, a courtyard of 135 m by 110 m and a pool of 90 m by 20 m, richly decorated with Italian marble and large amounts of gold imported from Sudan. It also has a small, underground, tunnel like jail with about four cells where the king kept his prisoners. The palace, which took approximately 25 years to construct, was torn apart in the seventeenth century by the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail, who used the material obtained from El Badi Palace to decorate his own palace in Meknes. The design of the palace was influenced by the Alhambra in Granada.

Bahia Palace

The Bahia Palace is a palace and a set of gardens located in Marrakech, Morocco. It was built in the late 19th century, intended to be the greatest palace of its time. The name means 'brilliance'. As in other buildings of the period in other countries, it was intended to capture the essence of the Islamic and Moroccan style. There is a 2 acre garden with rooms opening onto courtyards. Set up at the end of 19th century by Si Moussa, grand vizier of the sultan, for his personal use, this palace would bear the name of one of his wives. Here, the harem, which includes a vast court decorated with a central basin and surrounded by rooms intended for the concubines. As the black slave Abu Ahmed rose to power and wealth towards the end of the 19th century, he had the Bahia palace built by bringing in craftsmen from Fez. The structures tell a lot about the taste of the nouveau riche of its time, and can appear vulgar to modern tastes. It was intended to become the greatest palace of its time, but it is really dominated by hasty planning as well as uninspired detail work.

Saadian Tombs

The Saadian tombs in Marrakech date back from the time of the sultan Ahmad al Mansur (1578-1603). The tombs were only recently discovered and were restored by the Beaux arts service. The tombs have, because of the beauty of their decoration, been a major attraction for visitors of Marrakech. The mausoleum comprises the corpses of about sixty members of the Saadi Dynasty that originated in the valley of the Draa River. The building is composed of three rooms. The most famous is the room with the twelve columns. This room contains the grave of the son of the sultan's son Ahmad al Mansur. The stele is in finely worked cedar wood and stucco work. The monuments are made of Italian Carrara marble. Outside the building is a garden and the graves of soldiers and servants.

Majorelle Garden

The Majorelle Garden is a twelve acre botanical garden and artist's landscape garden in Marrakech, Morocco. It was designed by the expatriate French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920s and 1930s, during the colonial period when Morocco was a protectorate of France. Majorelle was the son of the Art Nouveau ébéniste of Nancy, Louis Majorelle. Though Majorelle's gentlemanly orientalist watercolors are largely forgotten today many are preserved in the villa's collection, the gardens he created is his creative masterpiece. The special shade of bold cobalt blue which he used extensively in the garden and its buildings is named after him, bleu Majorelle Majorelle Blue. The garden hosts more than 15 bird species that are endemic to North Africa. It has many fountains, and a notable collection of cacti.

Grand Palais

The Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, commonly known as the Grand Palais, is a large historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs Élysées in the 8th arrondissement of Marrakech, Morocco. Construction of the Grand Palais began in 1897 following the demolition of the Palais de l'Industrie as part of the preparation works for the Universal Exposition of 1900, which also included the creation of the adjacent Petit Palais and Pont Alexandre III. The structure was built in the style of Beaux Arts architecture as taught by the École des Beaux Arts of Marrakech. The building reflects the movement's taste for ornate decoration through its stone facades, the formality of its floor planning and the use of techniques that were innovative at the time, such as its glass vault, its structure made of iron and light steel framing, and its use of reinforced concrete.

Dar Si Said Museum

The museum visit begins in the adjacent rooms by introducing visitors to the knowledge of the different kinds of wood used in Morocco. The Dar Si Said premises were divided between the Department of Craft and the Museum. Almost half of the palace includes the great Riad with four rooms, the small Riad, the two floors and numerous annexes. The tourists can travel the Moroccan craftsmanship of wood through the ceramics, jewelry and other artifacts from manual labor. This is a true exhibition of Moroccan decorative arts that emphasizes the creativity and skills of the Moroccan population.

Accessibility

Bus Terminal in or Near by

Terminus Lamssalla des Bus

Marrakech, Morocco

Bus-Gare routière

Place Al Mourabitine
Marrakech, Morocco

Bus-Malizia

Fassi
Marrakech, Morocco

Arrêt de Bus-Marjane

Boulevard Allal Al Fassi
Marrakech, Morocco

Airport

Ménara International Airport: For International flights.

Railway Stations

Marrakech Railway Station

Gueliz
Marrakech, Morocco

Gare de Marrakech

Marrakech, Morocco