World City Guide

City Overview

Enchantingly sited at the foot of the snowy High Atlas Mountains, its rose-coloured walls set within lush green gardens, olive groves and palmeraies, Marrakech is one of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities.

Its very name conjures up images of magic carpets and snake charmers – and not without reason. After dark, the central square in the medina, Jemaa-el-Fna, comes to life and puts on a show little changed since medieval times. It is a riot of enticing colour, noise and smells, with dancers, fire-eaters, acrobats, snake charmers and fortune-tellers. Rows of trestle tables are set up every evening to serve up barbecued kebabs, boiled snails, mouthwatering tajines and an array of more or less appetising other foodstuffs.

Around this vast open space stretch the shadowy alleyways of the souks; a vast marketplace selling herbs and potions, carpets and candles, jewellery, spices, meat and metalwork. Marrakech has long been an important crossroads and trading centre for the Arabic, Berber, black African and, more recently, European civilisations. Today, it is a unique cultural melting pot, where the foods, wares, museums and gardens are unlike anything found anywhere else in the world.

Founded around 1062 by the Berber Almoravids, Marrakech soon became the capital of an Islamic empire that reached from central Spain to West Africa. The rule of Yousef Ben Tachfine blessed the city with its legendary walls, several mosques, fine gardens and palaces. The Almoravid conquest of southern Spain led to an exchange of culture investing this remote desert enclave with the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Andalucia, something that it has retained a feel for to this day.

The architectural influence of the Almohads was strong. Many of the city’s best-known landmarks, such as the mosques Koutoubia and El Mansour, date from their conquest, as do the vast mud walls that encase the medina. Although the Merinids of the 14th and 15th centuries turned their attentions instead to the city of Fez, ushering Marrakech into an era of provincial dejection, the coming of the Saadians in the early 16th century spelled a remarkable turnaround in Marrakech’s fortunes. Trade was enlivened and the legacy of the magnificent Saadian tombs was left for visitors to enjoy today. However, the long period of Alaouite governance turned the tables against the city once again, as Meknés in northern Morocco became their indulgence. Early 17th-century ruler Moulay Ismail went as far as stripping the gold and marble from Marrakech’s wonderful El Badi Palace in order to lavish his new capital with yet more glamour.

In the early 20th century, the French were relative latecomers to these proceedings but they soon constructed the Art Deco commercial centre of Guéliz to the northwest of the city walls. Perhaps the most significant legacy of this colonial rule is the French language, which is still spoken by all educated Moroccans, although English is fast becoming the second language of the young and of those involved in the tourist industry. Finally, a vast array of pleasure-seekers, ranging from the glamorous to the distinctly insalubrious, left their mark on the city after World War II. Winston Churchill, Yves Saint Laurent and the Rolling Stones rubbed shoulders with American beat writers, hippies and a new breed of curious visitors anxious to see what all the fuss was about.

Despite the European influences, Marrakech is nevertheless an Islamic city and still a male-dominated society, although many women have adopted Western dress and do have jobs and active social lives. Morocco is one of the more liberal Muslim countries and the government is keen to show it as a progressive, Western-leaning, liberal state. The whole gamut of media, curtailed in some Muslim states, is openly on display, from newspapers to satellite TV to the Internet, while the new king, Mohammed VI, is actively promoting the education of women and disadvantaged groups such as the Berbers, the indigenous population of the Atlas Mountains.

With its minimal rainfall, Marrakech is a magical place for a holiday whatever the season. Winter is bright and crisp, while autumn brings delicious fresh produce into the markets. Spring sees the Atlas Mountains covered in flowers, while the city’s red-hot summers can be offset by a day-trip to the sandy coast.