Dr. Stefan Christmann

November 7, 2024December 23, 2024

Koutoubia

Marrakech is called the ‘daughter of the desert‘ and it is located close to the Atlas mountain range which you can see everyday as the backdrop of the city. Marrakech itself is entirely flat which makes walking easy but navigation a bit more complicated if you don’t won’t to rely entirely on digital devices. Luckily there is one thing that stands out and serves like a lighthouse for visitors, visible from nearly everywhere in the city: the minaret of the Koutoubia mosque. It is 69 meters high and was built in the style of the Almoravid empire in the second half of the 11th century. Therefore you might recognize similarities to the minarets of Andalusia here.

November 7, 2024December 23, 2024

Daughter of the desert

Marrakech is called by different names: it is the ‘red city‘ (because of the color of the houses), the ‘pearl of the south‘, but also the ‘daughter of the desert‘ as it is located close to the Atlas mountains and the last stop before reaching the desert. In contrast to cities like Casablanca, Rabat, Agadir, Tangier and Essaouira it is not located at the coast or even close to it: Marrakech is at the inland and you’ll pass fantastic landscapes before reaching it. For many people the city is the dream location at Morocco and thereby it is also a very touristy city; for me it was the final stop of my tour by train through the country and therefore most things in the city weren’t surprising me anymore.

November 7, 2024November 28, 2024

Riad Khabia

The Medina of Marrakech is a place full of hustle and bustle. Good if you’ve got a Riad booked that serves you as a calm and quite place for the night. The Riad Khabia is located in a derb close to Rue Berrima in the South of the Medina. It feels a bit hidden but it is very good to reach and has nice rooms, very friendly staff and a good roof terrace with great views. But the best reason to book here is the location: you can walk to most of the important places easily.

November 6, 2024December 8, 2024

Tajine

The Moroccan kitchen has a lot to offer: beginning with the national dish couscous, via pastilla (a pie filled with meat and vegetables) to harira, a soup made of lentils, chickpeas, rice and onions. Bread is incredibly important and traditionally food is eaten together from one plate only with the fingers of the right hand. As a tourist you’ll for sure most often find knife and fork in restaurants – with street food it is different.

November 6, 2024December 24, 2024

Tombeaux des Mérinides

Around Fès you can discover two fortresses that have been built in 1582 to oversee the city, the Borj Nord and Borj Sud. The northern fortress is today a weaponry museum and not far away you can discover two ruins: the tombeaux des Mérinides. What was once the royal necropolis of the Marinid dynasty is today mostly a viewpoint. From here you can have amazing views on the entire city distributed throughout the valley.

November 6, 2024December 24, 2024

Nejjarine

Finding the Musée Nejjarine des Arts et Métiers du Bois inside the maze that is constituted by the medina of Fès is quite a challenge. Once you’ve found the Place Nejjarine or Carpenters Square you can enjoy the atmosphere of this place, observe the craftsmen, discover the fondouk (a beautifully decorated fountain) and explore the nice museum. The Musée Nejjarine is an old caravansary, a wonderful building which exhibits the fine works of carpenters on several levels, from doors via chests to wooden weaving machines.

November 6, 2024December 24, 2024

Madrasa Bū ʿInānīya

The most important gate to the medina of Fès is the Bab Boujeloud, a gate with three arches visible from the vast Place Boujloud. It is decorated with blue and green tiles referring to the city (blue) and to Islam (green). Behind it, the Rue Talaa Kabira with its countless shops (and hidden restaurants) starts. The first important sight in the medina can be discovered already 130 meters behind the gate: the Medersa Bou Inania or Madrasa Bū ʿInānīya, a wonderful Islamic college. In fact, it is the biggest medersa of the city and also a mosque; both created around the year 1350 CE.

November 5, 2024December 15, 2024

Tannery

The classic cover picture of guidebooks about Morocco is the Tannerie Chouara, hidden in the Medina of Fès. As it is a rather dirty and smelly craft, the tannery is located in the outer part of the old city close to the river. The skins of various animals are first bleached here in basins and later colored in the same way. If you arrive on the right day you can see many craftsmen working between multi-color water basins. The tannery is organized as a collective, many different people work in the same space and various shops surrounding it sell the products.

November 5, 2024December 24, 2024

Derb

The most immersive experience I had while being at Morocco was to explore the medina of Fès. A conglomerate of houses, feeling even more dense than the old town of Jerusalem. A city on multiple hills requiring you to climb up and down, filled with endless merchants and sights hidden in between to discover. Getting there is also an experience because you probably will get lost and your typical ways to get out will not work: in the narrow streets between high houses you’ll not have a good GPS signal and your navigation system will be unable to show you the right path.

November 5, 2024November 28, 2024

Riad Nazha

The Medina of Fès is car-free and therefore having a Riad close to a city gate or road around is a pure necessity. A good option is the Riad Nazha located in the southern, lower part of the city center. The guesthouse is like a palace and it has a wonderful roof terrace with great views on the Borj Sud fortification. And like always in Morocco you can’t see the beauty of this place from the outside – once you’ve found the door after walking between high houses without decorations an unexpected world opens up.