Seeing the Sights

Marrakech is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making the whole city worth a visit. Sightseeing in the medina offers something for everyone. You can visit most of these sights on foot in a few hours but note that many are closed at lunchtime. It helps to have a guide, and we can arrange a professional guide for you, who will be able to tell about these sites, and who won’t take you shopping!

Djemaa el Fna

Djemaa el Fna, the Square of the Dead, is the spiritual heart of Marrakech. Gateway to the Medina, this huge market square comes to life at sunset in a heaving mass of open-air barbeque stalls, fresh orange-juice sellers, nut and date vendors, story-tellers, snake charmers, cross-dressers, fortune-tellers, henna ladies, astrologers, singers, belly-dancers, the Berber dentist who uses pliers to extract teeth—no anaesthesia, Gnaoua musicians and assorted other characters with stories to tell, trinkets to sell, or games to share. Experience suggests that the grilled meats are safe, the juices delicious, the stories unintelligible (not surprisingly), the games un-winnable but addictive, and the bracelets made of cheap tin. Take a drink on the terrace of one of the many cafes overlooking the square, and see it team with life. The Djema el Fnaa is just five minutes walk from the hotel. Click here for a map of the streets from the hotel to Djema el Fnaa..

Palaces

El Badi Palace, El Badi the Magnificent, is just across the street from the hotel. One of Marrakech’s most spectacular sites, this ruined 16th century fort of pisé (packed mud and straw) and sandstone, was once one of the largest and most luxurious of palaces of the entire Muslim world. What prescient words were the vizier’s who upon its completion, turned to the Sultan and said, “it will make a great ruin someday.” When the balance of power shifted temporarily from Marrakech to Meknes, the palace was picked clean, leaving just the imagination, and a few small patches of exquisite work.

El Bahia Palace is the city’s only royal residence open to the public, built in the 19th century as a harem’s residence with a separate room and courtyard for each wife or concubine. Despite being ransacked on the death of its founder Bou Ahmed, it still displays the classic ingredients of exotic Moroccan architecture, including gardens, shady courtyards and fountains. Though one can see in comparing the décor to what traces are left at the Badi, or at the Saadian tombs, how far the standards had fallen, and how far the Empire had fallen by then. On occasion they put guests up here for State Visits. This palace is just past the Badi Palace, and is a two minute walk from the hotel.

The Royal Palace is just opposite the door of the Hotel. Residence of Hassan II, some of his wives still live there, and it is still used frequently for state visits. It is not open to the public, but you can see some of the gardens if you walk along the wall past the hotel. You will eventually come across an opening, and you can traverse the area that they still use today when receiving VIP visitors. Proceed further and you will come to another small opening that takes you into the Kasbah, where you will find the Saadian Tombs. King Mohammed VI has built himself a residence on the other side of the Kasbah, as he felt this one too grand. The Glaoui Residence was frequently used by the current King when he was Prince Regent. This Palace used to belong to the Glaoui family, but no more. Read about that in the history section of the site.

Saadian Tombs

The Saadians brought the sultanate back to Marrakech. Sadly, they were a relatively short-lived bunch, as their dedication to the arts and the quality of the crafts under their stewardship is evident in the work of the period. Re-discovered by accident in the 1920’s by the French, they have been a popular site ever since. This preserved mausoleum offers a series of lavish 16th century chambers and colourfully decorated tombs built by Sultan Ahmed el Mansour as a burial ground for himself and his successors. It won’t take you long to walk round and best to go early to avoid the tourist groups. Located in the Kasbah, just to the other side of the Palais Badi, it is a short walk from the hotel.

Dar Si Said

Walking up the first right on road north from El Bahia palace (rue Riad Zitoun el-Jedid), you’ll find this small 19th century palace now housing a striking collection of antique Moroccan handicrafts. Even if you have seen more than enough of these, a stunning flower-filled courtyard and brightly-patterned tiled salon more than justify the meagre entrance fee. About a five minute walk from the hotel. Closed Tuesdays and Fridays.

Maison Tiskiwin

If you are interested in carpets and Moroccan tribes, then this eclectic collection put together by local Dutchman Bert Flynt, who has turned his own house into a museum, then this is worth a short stop. On the way to the Dar Si Said. Closed at nap time, and other times somewhat randomly.

Mosques

The Koutoubia is one of the most historic and important of the mosques in all of the Islamic world. Sadly, one legacy of the French Protectorate is the law forbidding non-Muslims entry into the mosques. And a pity it is too, as this has a spectacular interior. Built at the same time and by the same dynasty (the Almohad’s, Morocco’s first Berber dynasty, and another dynasty from Marrakech) that built the Giralda in Sevilla, and the Hassan tower in Rabat, its elegance of line is unlike anything else that has come since. It was completed in 1158. The 70 metre high minaret makes it a stunning floodlit landmark, which you can see coming up the Avenue Mohammed V, or from the roof terrace of the hotel. Located south west of Djemaa El Fna, about a 15 minute walk.

Ali Ben Youssef Medersa (Koranic school) –- the medersa was once the largest in North Africa. 900 students would have once crammed into its tiny cells around the intricately decorated courts, worshipping in a very elaborate prayer hall using highly calligraphic Koranic texts. Built in the 14th century, and still in use up until the 1960’s, it is one of the city’s best examples of Islamic architecture. Located in the northern Medina. Closed Fridays.

Gardens

The Majorelle Gardens are today owned by Yves Saint Laurent, but were the project of French artist Jacques Majorelle in the 1920’s. There is a startling cobalt blue villa surrounded by banana trees, giant bamboo and cool cacti. Located in the Ville Nouvelle off Avenue Yacoub Al Mansour.

The Agdal Gardens (behind the Royal Palace), whose lagoons were once filled by underground channels all the way from the Atlas mountains, has citrus groves with sweetly scented springtime blossom. It is a huge garden, 40-acres, and was originally built by the great Almohad dynasty. There are pools and villas scattered about. Just a short walk from the hotel. Open on weekends unless the King is in residence.

The Menara Gardens is famous for its basin of water, and small villa, with the view of the snow-capped Atlas mountains serving as a backdrop. A popular picnic spot amongst Moroccan families, you will see them resting in the shade of the ancient olive trees. Also built by the Almohad dynasty. Near the airport.

With so much to see, it is now wonder that Marrakech is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.