| The Palaces |
The Bahia was built at
the end of the XIX° century by Ba Ahmed, a Grand Vizier
who decided to have only a ground floor because he was too big
to climb stairs. Suites for the favourites, concubines and all
his family where built one after the other, without any global
planning, in the heart of a 8 ha garden. The construction lasted
over seven years, with a thousand workers coming from Fez. Decoration
was splendid, sculpted marbles, woods and plasters, inside and
outside. You can visit the main courtyard, the Favourite’s
suite, and the Council room, formerly used also by Lyautey.
Palace el Badi is behind
Bab Berrima, and its name means “Palace without a comparison”.
It was ordered by Yacoub el-Mansour, after his victory over
Spain and Portugal at the Battle of the Three Kings, and was
paid by Portuguese spoils, Guinean gold and Sous sugar. Marble
was imported from Carare, and traded for its weight in sugar.
Many materials and craftsmen from Europe were a part of the
construction. Unfortunately, only ruins remains of these 360
rooms organized around an inner courtyard, full of flowers and
pools.
Dar Si Saïd was built
at the same time as the Bahia, by Ba Ahmed’s brother,
in the Alawite style, and the Palace hosts for long the Museum
of Moroccan Arts. On the first floor, an Arabic-Spanish room,
wedding furniture and Berber carpets
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Palace of the Bahia
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Saadian Tombs where enclosed
into the strong walls by Moulay Ismaïl who wanted at the
same time protect this architectural wonder, and hide all tracks
of the former dynasty. Built after 1590, these Mausoleums host
the tombs of 13 Saadians, and their refined decoration, the lightness
of their arches and sculptures produce a really exceptional monument,
that can be reached through a narrow passge in the wall.
Ba’adyin Koubba was
discovered in 1948, and it’s elegant white cupola is the
sole Almoravid track in Marrakech. Built with bricks and stones,
it is richly decorated with rosaces, arches and floral elements
engraved in its marble.
Ben Youssef mosque was built
to honour one the Seven Holy Men, Sidi Youssef Ben Ali, and the
medina get organized around it. Nothing remains of the original
building, twice entirely renovated in the XVI° and XIX°
century, which minaret goes up to 40 m
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Saadian Tombs
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Medersa Ben Youssef |
Medersa Ben Youssef
is one of the most beautiful buildings in Marrakech. Founded in
the XIV° century, and fully transformed by Sultan Moulay Abdallah,
it becomes the largest Koranic school in north Africa. Its doors
of sculpted cedar (which were copied in the Hassan II mosque in
Casablanca), its decoration of stucco and mosaics display and
Andalusian style. On each side of the pool there are two galleries
supported by sculpted wood pillars, and some of the 132 students
rooms have a view on them.
The “Golden Apple” Mosque
was built by Yacoub El-Mansour whose spouse, so says the legend,
gave her jewels for the golden balls on top of the minaret. It
was restaured, in 1569, after an explosion, and its façade,
long of 80 metres, hide a large prayer room.
The graves of the Seven Holy Men,
which pilgrimage was established by Moulay Ismail to enforce Marrakech
religious power threatened by the Pilgrimage of the Seven Regraga
Saints in Essaouira. From the XVIII° century on, this pilgrimage
was questioned by orthodox Muslims, without success. The Seven
Holy Men are Sidi Youssef, protector of the leprous, Sidi Souhaeil,
the Poet, Sidi Abdelaziz Tebaa, the Healer, Sidi Bel Abbas, protector
of Marrakech, Sidi Ben Abdellah El Ghazouani, the Ascetic, El
Jazouli, the spiritual guide, and Cadi Ayyad, the Fair one. |
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| Marrakech’s
mellah keeps traces of its important former Jewish population,
who took part into the city’s wealth. It has been the largest
one in Morocco. Remember that Jews are a part of Morocco’s
history, and even if they had to pay the “tax for protection”,
the dhimma, they were certainly better integrated than in many other
places, either in the North, where the Sultans kept the tradition
of cultural opening, and had numerous Jewish advisers, or in the
South, where the Jews arrived very early, often before the Hegira,
and were totally integrated in the Berber tribes, wearing weapons
and taking part in the tribal wars. Traditionally silver jewellers,
they created a recognized part of Moroccan art. |
| Tanneries were so well known
that the name of the city was given to a sort of leather, the maroquin
of our ministers, used since Renaissance for binding books. Set
on the river Issil, they are still working the traditional way.
One reaches Sidi Bel Abbes
by Bab Taghzout, near the wonderful Chob ou Shouf (Drink and admire)
fountain, neighbourhood named according to one of the Holy Men,
its has numerous fundouqs (former caravans hotels).
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