Marrakech - South of Jemaa el Fna Travel Guides | Marrakech | Sub Regions | Marrakech - South of Jemaa el Fna

The great museum-palaces of Marrakech lie south of Jemaâ el Fna. With its wider, straighter streets, this area is easier to negotiate than the labyrinthine northern médina. From ‘la place’, Riad Zitoun el Kedim leads down to a confusing junction and the Place des Ferblantiers, home to the metal workers. Through a gate, down a giant-sized corridor between pisé walls is the entrance to the El Badi Palace. All that remains of a 16th-century golden sultan’s greatest palace is a vast precinct set with sunken orange groves. The rooftops of the present royal palace complex lie just beyond.

A confusing ramble away, not far from Bab Agnaou, behind the Kasbah Mosque, high walls hide a masterpiece of Moorish architecture, the Saâdian Mausoleum. Carved stucco traceries arch over the marble tombs of 17th-century princelings. Poetically lost to the world for a couple of centuries, this jewel box of a monument was only rediscovered in the early 20th century.

Another street running south of Jemaâ el Fna, Riad Zitoun el Jedid, takes you to more palatial homes turned over to cultural display. The Dar Si Saïd houses the city’s biggest collection of Moroccan traditional arts and crafts: rare carpets, pottery and all manner of rural implements. Nearby, the Bahia Palace is a mosaic of fountain courtyards and cool, high-ceilinged chambers. One-time home of a cruel vizier, droves of tourists now pass through. Look in at the Maison Tiskiwine, a modest home containing a unique private collection of Moroccan textiles.

Sights

Not open to non-Muslims.

The road from Bab Agnaou leads to Rue de la Kasbah, turn right along here and then take the first left. On this road is the much- restored Kasbah Mosque, dating from 1190. The minaret has Almohad darj wa ktaf (step and shoulder) and shabka (net) motifs on alternate sides, all on a background of green tiles. Though not as impressive as the tower of the Koutoubia Mosque, the minaret is a notable landmark en route to the Saâdian Tombs.

0800-1200, 1400-1800, generally closed Tue. 10dh. The entrance lies directly to the right of the Kasbah mosque.

French archaeologists and savants had a field day in early 20th- century Morocco: here was an exotic land, untouched by modernity, ripe for study. The Saâdian Tombs must rate as one of their more exciting discoveries, a high point in Islamic art. How did the mausolea escape the destructive rage of Sultan Moulay Ismaïl, he who set out to destroy all traces of the Saâdians? Perhaps sealing off the tombs was the best way to consign the dynasty to oblivion – without profaning what was after all a royal burial place. Whatever, the Saâdian rulers’ last resting place is a Moorish architectural bijou – ‘discovered’ in 1917 thanks to aerial photography. Access had been via the neighbouring mosque, so a corridor had to be created to give non-Muslim visitors access to the two mausolea. In the first, the mihrab (prayer niche) of the first main burial chamber is particularly impressive. Here lies Prince Moulay Yazid. In the second room is buried the great Ahmed al Mansour, ‘the Golden’, surrounded by his sons. A third, more poignant chamber contains children’s graves. The second mausoleum contains the tombs of Ahmed al Mansour’s mother, the venerated Lalla Messaouda, and Mohammed Ech Cheikh, founder of the Saâdians. Overall, the mausolea are not so very different from the private chapel of a European noble family. Visit early in the day. Later the dignity and repose of the Saâdians gets a little ruffled by tour groups.

0900-1200 and 1430-1730 (closed during the two Aïd holidays). 10dh.

El Badi Palace was built by the Saâdian Sultan Ahmed al Mansour ed-Dahbi (the Golden) between 1578 and 1593, following his accession after his victory over the Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings, at Ksar el Kebir in northern Morocco. To get there coming from ‘la Place’ down Riad Zitoun el Kedim, head onto Place des Ferblantiers (a square with workshops turning out tin lanterns etc), then turn right once though the big gate in the wall and you’ll find the ‘corridor’ between massive walls leading to the palace.

The 16th-century palace marks the height of Saâdian power, the centrepiece of an imperial capital. It was a lavish display of the best craftsmanship of the period, using the most expensive materials, including gold, marble and onyx. Today only the great walls have survived as a reminder of one of the periodic royal re-foundations of Marrakech. The palace was largely destroyed in the 17th century by Moulay Ismaïl, who stripped it of its decorations and fittings and carried them off to Meknès. No austere royal fortress, the Badi was probably a palace for audiences – and it was at one of these great court ceremonies that the building’s fate was predicted: “Among the crowds taking part at the banquet was a visionary who, at the time, enjoyed a certain reputation for his saintliness. ‘What do you think of this palace?’ asked the Sultan Al Mansour in jest. ‘When it is demolished, it will make a big pile of earth’, replied the visionary. Al Mansour was lost for words at this answer. He felt a sinister omen.” (El Ifrani, a historian writing in the early 18th century also noted the inauspicious numerical meaning of the palace’s name. The value of its letters is 117 – exactly the number of lunar years the palace remained intact: from 1002 AH to 1119 AH, that is 1594-1708.)

The name El Badi ties in with the palace’s once elaborate decoration. In Arabic, ilm el badi is one of the main varieties of classical Arabic rhetoric, the art of stylistic ornament – and the palace was certainly one of the most decorated in its day. Above one of the main gates, the following inscription was placed in flowing Arabic calligraphy: “This gate is as beautiful as the eloquent beginning of a fine poem, and the palace is as the continuation of this poem. Thus it was named Badi, using hyperbole, assonance and pleonasm.”

In its day, the Badi Palace was the physical symbol of the Golden Sultan’s glory. Al Mansour had conquered the Sudan (Arabic for ‘blacks’), bringing them under Islamic rule. Deeply influenced by Ottoman court traditions, he no doubt hoped to establish the imposing ceremonial of the Istanbul court in Morocco. The palace drew in wealth and skilled craftsmen from all over. The colonnades were of marble, apparently bought, or rather exchanged with Italian merchants, for their equivalent weight in sugar. Al Mansour had sugar-cane presses built. Perhaps there is a visual message here, the power of the prince transforming crystalline sugar into white marble and stucco. Sugary sweets were distributed to the Sultan’s guests – at a time when well-refined sugar was a rarity. The ill omens which had so frightened Al Mansour were realized: not only was the palace destroyed, but all its fine building materials were dispersed. The glory of the palace was dismantled, and in the words of one contemporary observer, “there was not a single city in Morocco which did not receive some debris of El Badi.” The vaulting ambition and power of the great Moulay Ismaïl in turn had to find an expression in stone – or rather adobe – walls, but at Meknès, not Marrakech. Perhaps there was a political logic to all this building activity. Moulay Ismaïl is said to have declared: “If I have a sack full of rats, I must move the sack constantly to prevent them from escaping.”

In July, El Badi comes alive each weekend for the annual festival of traditional dance and music. Films are screened here in late September for the Festival du film de Marrakech. Most of the year, however, the palace enclosure is a quiet sort of place, the high thick walls protecting the vast courtyard from the noise of the surrounding streets. The courtyard is divided by water channels connecting a number of pools. The largest of these even has an island. The ruins on either side of the courtyard were probably summer houses, the one at the far end being called the Koubba el Khamsiniya after the 50 pillars in its construction. The complex contains a small museum which includes the movable minbar, a sort of pulpit, from the Koutoubia Mosque. The scattered ruins of the palace, with odd fragments of decoration amidst the debris, also include stables and dungeons.

Rue de la Bahia. 0900-1200 and 1430-1745, closed Tue and public holidays. 20dh.

To get to the southeast area of the médina follow Rue des Banques from just past Café de France on the Jemaâ el Fna. This leads into Riad Zitoun Jedid. Off to the left is the Dar Si Saïd, a palatial complex originally built by Si Saïd, vizier under Moulay El Hassan, and half-brother of Ba Ahmed. Today it houses the Museum of Moroccan Arts and Crafts. The collections include pottery, jewellery, leatherwork from Marrakech and Chichaoua carpets. Amazigh artifacts, (daggers, copperware, jewellery of silver, ivory and amber) are one of its strongpoints. The first floor has been made into an elegant salon with Hispano-Moorish decoration. In a cool and pleasant courtyard, a remarkable collection of old window and door frames is on display. Items to look out for include a marble basin, unusually decorated with heraldic birds, from Islamic Spain, and a primitive four-seater wooden ferris wheel of the type still found in moussems (country fairs) in Morocco. Those particularly interested in traditional Moroccan artefacts will want to continue to the neighbouring Maison Tiskiwine.

8 Rue de la Bahia, T 044-443335. 0930-1230 and 1500-1830. 15dh.

Between the Palace and Dar Si Said is the Maison Tiskiwine (‘the House of the Horns’), a modest courtyard house which is home to a fine array of items related to Moroccan rural society. The collection was assembled over a lifetime in Morocco by Dutch art historian and Marrakech resident Bert Flint. There is an exhibition of craftsmen’s materials and techniques from regions as far apart as the Rif, High Atlas and the Sahara, including jewellery and costumes, musical instruments, carpets and furniture. Flint was also instrumental in setting up another collection of traditional Moroccan craftwork for the City Council in Agadir.

Riad Zitoun el Jedid, T 044-389564. Mon-Thu 0830-1145, 1430- 1745, Sat and Sun 0830-1130 and 1500-1745, closed Fri. 10dh.

Further to the south is the Bahia Palace (Bahia means ‘brilliant’). It was built in the last years of the 19th century by the vizier Ba Ahmed ben Moussa, or Bou Ahmed, a former slave who exercised considerable power under Sultans Moulay Hassan and Abd el Aziz. Generally packed with tour groups, the palace is a maze of corridors, passageways and empty chambers with painted ceilings. The story goes that Bou Ahmed was so hated that, on his death in 1900, his palace was looted and his possessions stolen by slaves, servants and members of his harem. The visit concludes with a marble paved courtyard of 50x30 m, and the guides will tell you that each wife and concubine had a room looking onto the patio. The French authorities set up shop here when they occupied Marrakech in the early 1900s, installing all manner of mod cons. With the pleasant garden courtyards and high cedarwood ceilinged chambers, you can easily see why.

The mellah was created in 1558. This lies south of the Bahia Palace and to the west of the El Badi Palace. It’s an extensive quarter reflecting the Jewish community’s historic importance to the city, when they were involved in the sugar trade and banking, as well as providing most of the jewellers, metalworkers and tailors. There were several synagogues and, under the control of the community’s rabbis, the area had considerable autonomy. Few Jews remain today, the last wave of departures happening after the 1973 war, and the quarter’s once-distinct feel has all but vanished. The synagogues have been closed and their paraphernalia removed to Israel or elsewhere. There is a small, plain synagogue visited by Jewish tourists down an alley as you face the restaurant Dar Douiria, which is on your right as you leave the Place des Ferblantiers behind you when you leave the Palais Badi. Don’t expect to knock and find anyone automatically there to show you around.

The walls and gates

The Red City’ s 16 km of ramparts, set with 20 gates and 200 towers date from Almoravid times (11th century) – excepting those around the Agdal Gardens which are more recent. Packed earth being a crumbly sort of material, there has been much reconstruction down the centuries. A popular way to see something of the ramparts is a ride in a horse-drawn calèche. In places, there has been much beautification going on of late on the western side of town, with fancy wrought iron railings and rose gardens taking the place of dusty wasteland.

Sights

Bab Rob, near the buses and grands taxis on the southwest side of the médina, is Almohad, and is named after the grape juice which could only be brought through this gate. Bab Debbagh (the Tanners’ gate), on the east side, is an intricate defensive gate with a twisted entrance route and wooden gates, which could shut off the various parts of the building for security. From the top of the gate there would be a good view of the tanneries if one were allowed up. Note that hides are often laid out to dry on the banks of the nearby Oued Issil – where a large social housing development is going up, replacing the local bidonville. Bab el Khemis, on the northeast side, opens into the Souk el Khemis (Thursday market) and an important area of mechanics and craftsmen. Stop in to check out the junk-market on a Sunday morning. There is a small saint’s tomb inside the gate building. Bab Doukkala, on the northwest side by the bus station, is a large gate with a horseshoe arch and two towers. Occasional art exhibitions have been held inside. The esplanade in front of the gate is being revamped. Close to the bus-station, this is a poor area. At night, it is where locals come to see their undercover booze merchant. North of Bab Doukkala, the tatty palm groves have been walled in, who knows to what purpose.

Travel Guides | Marrakech | Sub Regions | Marrakech - South of Jemaa el Fna
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