Morocco 2/16/2024 - 3/2/2024

Monday 2/26/2024 - Koutoubia Mosque, Saadian Tombs, Slat Lazama Synagogue, Bahia Palace, Medersa Ben Youssef, Souks, Jemaa el-Fna

We went to the Pixel Room at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast. The lights were dim and it was a pleasant place to sip coffee and achieve consciousness. Breakfast was an elaborate affair, with pancakes, msemen, khobz, fruit, yogurt, pastries, coffee, and orange juice. Craig had a vegetable omelette and I had a cheese omelette.

At 10 o'clock, Jamal met us in the lobby and we walked out to meet Majid at the van.

Majid drove us to the Koutoubia Mosque. This mosque dates back to the 12th century. It was founded in 1147 by the Almohad Caliphate (1147–1269) directly after they took control of Marrakech from the Almoravid Dynasty (1050s–1147). In 1158, the mosque was rebuilt because they felt that it was misaligned with the direction of Mecca. Remnants of the old mosque are visible on the site. The irony is that it seems that the new mosque is even further misaligned. The minaret is 77 meters tall, and no other buildings in the city are allowed to be taller than it. The mosque is currently closed for renovations due to last year’s earthquake, but they hope to reopen it in time for Ramadan next month.

There are four golden orbs (instead of the usual three) on the finial of the minaret. "There are rumors" about how this came to be. One legend claims that the fourth was donated by the wife of Yaqub al-Mansur (the third Almohad Caliph) as penance for breaking her fast during Ramadan. She melted down all of her gold jewelry to create it.

Next, Majid dropped us off in front of the Bab Agnaw, one of the 19 historical gates of Marrakech. It dates back to the 12th century during Almohad times. It separates the Kasbah neighborhood of Tamarrakacht from the other neighborhoods of the city. There were horse-drawn carriages taking people for rides around Marrakech, and one went right past the gate while we were standing there. The timing was perfect, and transported us back 900 years.

We entered the gate to the Kasbah and admired another mosque, the Mosque of the Kasbah. We saw many storks flying around and alighting on nests that they have built on minarets and chimneys.

Next, in the Kasbah, we visited the nearby the Saadian Tombs. This ornate funerary complex dates back to 1557, and houses the graves of the Saadian Dynasty (1510–1659). The Saadians were Sharifs, descendants of the Prophet Mohammed. The tombs are a major tourist attraction in Marrakech, and there was a long line to peek into the most elaborate of chambers, the Chamber of the Twelve Columns. But it was worth it. There was zellige mosaic tilework on the floor and walls, and carved friezes and archways. The zellige on the walls was quite delicate compared to others we had seen. The architecture of the Saadian Tombs reminded us of Mughal architecture in India. To quote the placard on the wall of the tomb complex:

It revolves around a cupola which rests on four groups of marble pillars from Italy which support a ceiling of sculpted cedar wood decorated with grand Muqarnas arches. The walls are covered with glazed earthenware crowned with Koranic friezes. The room shelters the remains of the creator of this funerary ensemble Ahmed Al Mansour, and those of his son Zidan and his immediate successors.

While walking through the Kasbah, we came upon a Gnawa busker. I was able to sit in with him for a few minutes and he taught me how to play the krakeb cymbals. He had a hat with a tassel and he moved his head so that the tassel spun while he played.

We walked through markets where they were selling spices, black soap (for use in hammams), and natural dyes. This area of the kasbah had traditionally been the Jewish quarter, though today it is not strictly Jewish.

We visited the Slat Lazama Synagogue. This synagogue dates back to 1492. It has a lovely courtyard and houses several exhibits on Judaism. including a photography exhibit on the Bnei Menashe, a group of people in Northeast India who are believed to have been forgotten descendants of the Jewish people.

Next we visited the Bahia Palace, a 19th century palace with exquisite architecture. The palace was commissioned by Si Moussa in 1866. He rose through the ranks from slave to be grand vizier of Alaouite sultans Mohamed IV and Hassan I. Si Moussa died in 1894. He was succeeded by his son Ba Hmad, who expanded the palace and named it after his favorite wife Bahia (meaning "the Brilliant").

It reminded us of a cross between Mughal and Bhutanese design, with mosaic tile work and carvings reminiscent of Mughal India, and ceilings where every inch is painted in floral and geometric motifs, as in Bhutan. This painting style in Morocco is known as zawaq. There were also stained glass windows in some of the rooms.

There are many lovely courtyards in the palace. Jamal mentioned that the mirrors and fireplaces inside were added by the French at a later date.

One annoyance at Bahia Palace was an influencer and her entourage. They snapped perfectly posed photos of her in all of the photogenic locations, and it was very distracting (not to mention the fact that you had to wait for her to get out of the way all the time).

After leaving the palace, I tried to get some money at an ATM, but it appeared to be out of cash.

Next we stopped for a light lunch at a Lebanese restaurant called Naranj, which was highly recommended by Jamal. We sat on a shady roof deck and enjoyed delicious falafel wraps with fresh chips and a Coke. We spent an hour enjoying the delicious food before resuming our tour.

We walked through the souk and saw a restaurant with clay pots full of tangia, the signature dish of Marrakech, a stew. The restaurant also featured mechoui, slow-roasted whole lamb or mutton that is cooked in an underground clay pit. We peeked into one such pit, though the day's meet had already been extracted.

Next we toured Medersa Ben Youssef, a Koranic school built in 1564-65 by the Abdallah al-Ghalib, the second Saadian sultan of Morocco. It is named after the adjacent Ben Youssef Mosque, which was originally the main mosque of Marrakech, founded by the Almoravid Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf in the early 12th century.

The Medersa was used as a center of Islamic studies until the 1960's. At its height, it housed as many as 900 students in 134 student rooms situated around 13 courtyards. It must have been pretty crowded. In some of the rooms, we saw platform bunk beds.

The architecture is gorgeous, decorated with carved wood, zellige tile work, sculpted plaster, and Koranic calligraphy. One interesting embellishment is the motif of pine cones. These are thought to symbolize human enlightenment and emancipation. This motif may have been inspired by Ottoman architecture.

There was a prayer hall with a stone ablution basin which dates back to the late 10th century. It is intricately carved, much like the walls that surround it.

We finished our visit to Medersa Ben Youssef with a stroll through their museum, which exhibits architectural elements and artifacts from centuries past.

Next we stopped in at a building where the caretaker Mr. Soudani keeps the fire going to heat the hammams. The fire was not going today, but we could see the large stone furnace and the ashes. We could only imagine the heat in there when the fire was blazing. We met Mr. Soudani and he played a guinbri (Gnawa stringed instrument) for us.

We saw the Ben Youssef mosque, whose minaret cracked right down the center during last year's earthquake.

We heard some quiet mewing and realized that there were some newborn kittens in a cardboard box in the alley. They were so cute!

We walked through the souks, stopping to buy a gift for a friend. Jamal took us to La Maison des Babouches (The House of Slippers), where we saw leatherworkers using waxed fibers from recycled seatbelts to sew leather poufs and slippers. They sold slippers of all sizes, and when Craig doubted that they would have his size, they brought over a comically oversized slipper for effect. Craig tried on some yellow slippers and they fit, but we weren't looking to buy any.

We walked past metalworkers' stalls where they were selling elaborate locks, keys, krakeb cymbals, house numbers, etc. There were bronze workshops with light fixtures for sale. We saw beautiful stained glass lamps which I was very tempted to buy if I had any place at home where I could put one. We stopped in to watch a plaster artisan carving based on stencils. He had a few cats in his workshop with him. Craig rescued a stencil that one of the cats was playing with, and then the cat started to play with the tip of Craig's cane. It was adorable.

We topped off our day of Marrakech sightseeing with a visit to Jemaa el-Fna, an outdoor night market with a festival atmosphere. It was around 7 o'clock when we arrived, and things were just starting to get going. Many juice stalls had been set up during the day, and there were countless food stalls jockeying for customers. Women set up booths where they did henna body painting. Music groups performed for tips.

We saw two local women get into a fight, head-butting and biting one another until men came and separated them. It was particularly vicious, not your average "girl fight" from junior high school.

People were selling toys for kids, and there were games of chance (the kind they have at carnivals that you are very unlikely to win). Snake charmers approached people with small snakes, while the cobras were nearby on the ground.

Men had barbary Macaque monkeys on chains, dressed in little outfits. We didn't take photos of the snakes or the monkeys, as the animals are generally not treated well and we didn’t want to contribute to the problem.

Between the women fighting, the snake charmers, the monkey men, and the game shysters, the whole place had a sort of lawless feel at first.

But I became more relaxed as we stopped and watched a very animated local Marrakech musical group which performed in the style of Ghiwani Wane. They made sure that we had a place to sit and enjoy the music, and they seemed excited to have foreigners in the audience.

Marrakech musical group performing in the style Ghiwani Wane

We stopped at stall #71 where proprietor Mohamed prepared a special tea made with 14 ingredients, including ginger, cinnamon, rosemary, thyme, and lavender. It was delicious (not to mention scalding hot!) We had to wait for it to cool a little before drinking it. We also tried some sweets that were sold at the same stall.

Jamal suggested going to a local rooftop to have drinks and get a panoramic view of the proceedings. So we went to the Grand Balcon Cafe Glacier (which had a sign demanding "obligatory consumption." In other words, you have to buy a drink to utilize their rooftop deck). We each bought a soft drink and enjoyed the view of Jemaa El Fna. You could hear a cacophony of sounds. While we were on the roof, it was breezy and a bit chilly. It actually started to sprinkle rain (quite an event here, since they are in the midst of a 6 year drought). Many people in the square started to scramble and gather their wares to keep them dry, even though the sprinkles only lasted several minutes.

Jemaa El Fna

We left the rooftop and walked to meet Majid at the van. He drove us back to the hotel area. Jamal joked that we would need to find our way back to the riad on our own, but in actuality he walked us back. Unlike some other trips, we really relied on Jamal and Majid to take us absolutely anywhere. The streets and alleyways of the medina were very disorienting, and we honestly didn't know how to get back to the riad.

Once we arrived, Jamal told us that our hot air balloon transfer would be waiting for us at 6:20 a.m., and that we should be back at the hotel around 10:30. He and Majid would pick us up in the early afternoon tomorrow. We said goodnight to Jamal.

We wanted to try the Library for breakfast (we had tried the Pixel Room, and we didn't want to eat on the rooftop in the hot sun), so we made reservations for breakfast at 11 a.m. That way we would have a good breakfast after our hot air balloon ride, and we would not need lunch.

We headed back to our room. I typed up notes from the day and posted to Instagram / Facebook. Craig took a shower and I took a bath before heading to bed.

Koutoubia Mosque

Saadian Tombs

Slat Lazama Synagogue

Bahia Palace

Madrasa Ben Youssef

Jemaa el-Fna