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Published: March 2nd 2013
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Medina quarters
In the medina quarters the streets are very narrow and lined with shops. Introduction
We spent two weeks in Morocco in December and January. We have decided to write three blog entries from this journey and we start by writing about Marrakesh and Casablanca simply because that is where we started this trip.
Marrakesh
Marrakesh sounds very exotic to us. Almost like places that only exist in fairytales such as
Hogwarts,
Tatooine,
Shire or
Narnia. In one part of the city, the medina quarters, we sometimes felt like we were warped into an episode in
One Thousand and One Nights. But most of the city looks like any other city and couldn't be less exotic really.
In the medina quarters the streets are very narrow and lined with shops. Around the hotels they are mostly selling souvenirs in the shops but in other parts of the medina they are selling all kinds of things like household items, machine parts and textiles.
There were many souvenir shops and not that many tourists around. We thought that the shop owners were going to chase after us in desperation to make a sale. Instead it was surprisingly relaxed. We could walk through the medina in our own pace and enjoy it which
Spices on display
Around the hotels they are mostly selling souvenirs in the shops but in other parts of the medina they are selling all kinds of things like household items, machine parts and textiles. felt just great.
Marrakesh was founded almost 1.000 years ago and there are some attractions in town of historical interest.
The first historical place we visited was
Musée de Marrakesh. The museum itself didn’t appeal to us but the building that housed it was worth a visit. But we are happy we visited Musée de Marrakesh first of the various historical buildings in Marrakesh because it turned out it was far less interesting than the next place we visited – the Medersa Ben Youssef.
Medersa Ben Youssef was built in the 12
th century and was then a mosque. Later the mosque was rebuilt and turned into a Madrasa, a boy school for Quran studies. Medersa Ben Youssef is today a museum and is well worth a visit. The Islamic art, such as carved calligraphy and colourful marble tiles laid in decorative patterns, is very impressive.
In the medina quarters of Marrakesh there is a large square known as
Jemaa el-Fnaa. The importance of the square has been recognised by UNESCO who has added it, together with the rest of the Marrakesh medina, on the world heritage list. Jemaa el-Fnaa has for centuries been a market place and in the afternoon it
Musée de Marrakesh
The museum itself didn’t appeal to us but the building that housed it was worth a visit. turns into something that can be described as a carnival. There are food stalls, vendors selling orange juice, nuts or fruit. There are snake charmers, fortune tellers and men dressed as women putting up dance shows. The tradition of dancing men in Jemaa el-Fnaa is very old and originated in a time when women were not allowed to dance.
Near the Jemaa el-Fnaa is the most important mosque in Marrakesh, the Koutobia Mosque. Non-muslims are in general not permitted to enter mosques in Morocco and the Koutobia Mosque is no exception. So we had to view it from the outside only.
To the south of the medina quarters there are two palaces near each other. One is called
El Badi Palace and was built in the 16
th century and was destroyed less than a century later. Today there are only ruins left.
The other palace is known as
Bahia Palace. The decorations in Bahia Palace are dominated by carvings and colourful tiles. Or at least that is what it is supposed to be. The most prominent feature of Bahia Palace today is tour groups. The place was much too crowded for our taste.
When we were in Marrakesh we
Medersa Ben Youssef
Medersa Ben Youssef was built in the 12th century and was then a mosque visited a park called Jardin Majorelle. It’s a botanical garden created by an artist named Jacques Majorelle. The garden was later taken over by Yves Saint Laurent who also had it restored. The garden is nice to walk around in for a while but for someone who has so little knowledge in botany as we have the park is lovely but not very interesting. For someone who has a personal interest in fashion it might be interesting to know that the ashes of Yves Saint Laurent was scattered in the park.
We found other parks in Marrakesh that we thought were much more interesting than Jardin Majorelle. One was Menara Gardens. Most of the park is a large olive plantation, a bit unusual and not exactly what we expected to find in a park. In the centre of the park there is a large pool with greenish water and next to it is a pavilion.
Another park we thought was fun was Cyber Parc Moulay Abdessalam. In this park there are computers set up allowing visitors to go onto the Internet while being there.
Casablanca
When we were in Casablanca perhaps we should have
Medersa Ben Youssef
Later the mosque was rebuilt and turned into a Madrasa, a boy school for Quran studies. searched for places featured in the
movie with the same name. The guidebook didn’t point any such places out for us and Ake knows from experience that it often isn’t worth the trouble to try to find places like that by yourself. He did once visit the corner of 16
th Street and Prospect Park West in Brooklyn, featured in the movie
Smoke, and found out that the outdoor scenes were shot somewhere else. But we visited a few other places in Morocco where films had been shot. If you wish to read about that you have to wait until the next blog entry is ready.
The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the largest mosque in all of Morocco and, unusual for mosques in this country, also non-Muslims can visit it by talking a guided tour. The minaret of Hassan II Mosque is 210 meter high and supposedly it makes it the highest minaret in the world. The mosque is cavernous inside and richly decorated both inside and out.
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