The Passenger

You’ll need some imagination to understand the former beauty of the Palais El-Badi, formerly a wonder of the Islamic world, now a ruin. Saadi ruler Ahmad al-Mansur ordered the creation in 1578 with finest decorations and especially with a vast water basin in the Andalusian style of Granada – like the Patio de los Leones but on much greater scale and with four buildings surrounding the water: the Koublat el Hadra, Koublat ed Dahab, Koublat el Hayzudran and the Koublat el Hamsinija.

Continue reading “Palais de l‘incomparable”

The Palais de la Bahia is the most beautiful palace of Marrakech, created at the end of the 19th century by Saadi grand vizier Si Moussa. It is one of the most visited sites of the city and unfortunately always full of tourists that enjoy the decorations made of marble, ceramic mosaics and cedar wood. Seven years were needed to finish this combination of rooms, gardens and courtyards. Most wonderful is the Grand Cour, a vast courtyard with a surrounding gallery.

Continue reading “Les milles nuits et une nuit”

The Medersa Ben Youssef is one of the most beautiful buildings of Marrakech and worth the effort of finding it in the medina north of the Jemaa el fna. It is an Islamic college with a large pool of water at its center and amazing decorations at its walls and roofs made of marble and cedar wood. The college dates back to the 14th century and was created in the style of the Marinid dynasty which was preserved when it was rebuilt during the Saadi dynasty in 1564. The Medersa Ben Youssef has three levels that you should consider exploring: on the first floor the rooms of the students can be visited, rather small cells.

Continue reading “Eau de vie”

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.

Continue reading “Koutoubia”

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.

Continue reading “Daughter of the desert”