Marrakech

Marrakech: Beautiful, Overwhelming, and Worth Every Confusing Minute

Jemaa el-Fna at dusk is the most consistently disorienting space I’ve spent time in. Snake charmers, Gnawa drummers, food stalls producing smoke in overlapping columns, storytellers in Darija, tourists with their cameras out, local families eating dinner, henna artists negotiating with women who haven’t been told the correct price yet – all of this happening simultaneously in a UNESCO-designated space that has been running this way, roughly continuously, since the 11th century. You cannot process it efficiently. The correct response is to find a rooftop cafe, order mint tea, and watch it from above until the architecture of the thing becomes legible.

Marrakech was founded by the Almoravid Berbers in 1070 and has served as an imperial capital, a trans-Saharan caravan hub, and a magnet for European artists from Matisse to Yves Saint Laurent. The medina is walled, ancient, and organised according to a logic that resists tourist mapping. Getting lost is not a failure; it is the methodology.

What to See

The Koutoubia Mosque (12th century, its 77-metre minaret visible from across the city and the architectural inspiration for the Giralda in Seville) is surrounded by gardens worth sitting in at sunset. Non-Muslims cannot enter.

Bahia Palace is a 19th-century grand vizier’s palace with carved cedar ceilings, stucco honeycombs, painted doors, and cool marble courtyards. Entry costs a few dirhams and takes an hour.

The Saadian Tombs are a small but exquisitely tiled 16th-century necropolis rediscovered in 1917. Next door, El Badi Palace is a half-ruined complex whose massive stork-topped walls and sunken gardens are better for atmospheric wandering than for formal sightseeing.

Ben Youssef Madrasa, the recently restored 14th-century Quranic school, has a dazzling central courtyard of zellige, stucco, and carved cedar. Once North Africa’s largest institution of Islamic learning.

The Jardin Majorelle is the cobalt-blue villa and garden created by French artist Jacques Majorelle and later saved by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé. The combined ticket with the YSL Museum next door is worth it for both; the YSL Museum’s permanent collection is among the better fashion museum experiences in the world.

The Souks

The labyrinth of covered bazaars north of Jemaa el-Fna has distinct sections: textiles and lanterns at Souk Semmarine, leather at Souk Cherratine, ironwork at Souk Haddadine, babouche slippers at Souk Smata, dyed wool at Souk des Teinturiers. Haggling is expected and is a social exercise as much as a commercial one. Start at 30 to 40 percent of the opening price and expect to meet somewhere in the middle. A genuine smile and patience are more effective than aggression.

Eating

Tagines slow-cooked with preserved lemon and olives, pastilla (phyllo with pigeon and powdered sugar, which sounds wrong and is excellent), tanjia (clay-pot lamb cooked in the residual heat of hammam fires), harira soup. Nomad on Rahba Kedima has modernised Moroccan dishes and a stylish rooftop. Al Fassia Aguedal is a women-run restaurant doing Fassi cooking that is among the more serious dining in the city.

Fresh-squeezed orange juice from the Jemaa el-Fna carts is how most mornings should start. Mint tea is served everywhere, always, and is correctly described as the lubricant of Moroccan social life.

Where to Stay

A riad – a traditional courtyard house – is the appropriate accommodation for the medina. Intimate, personalised, with a plunge pool and a rooftop. La Mamounia, the historic grande dame in 20 acres of walled gardens, is the prestige option and one of the better hotels in Africa.

When to Come

Spring (March through May) and autumn (September through November) are ideal. Summer exceeds 40 degrees and the medina’s streets trap heat. Winter nights are surprisingly cold in buildings that are not centrally heated.