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Marrakesh
Marrakesh is Morocco’s fourth largest city. Its people are a mix
of Arab and Berber, many of its residents being rural immigrants from
surrounding rural regions and further south. The economy of the city
includes administrative activities and modern shops and services. There
is still a wide range of handicraft production and small scale industry
particularly in the medina. There are also a number of factories and
industrial units, notably in agro-processing. However, the city economy
and employment are heavily dependent on tourism. Marrakesh being one
of the most important tourist attractions of Morocco and many of the
cities large unemployed or under employed labour force supplement their
incomes by casual work with tourists.
Getting to Marrakesh
Marrakesh is easily accessible by air, road and rail. There are direct
flights from French and some other European cities to Marrakesh-Menara
airport, and seven trains a day to Casablanca (journey time 4hours)
with onward connections to the rest of Morocco. There are also good
bus and grand-taxi connections with all major cities though the journey
times are long. For drivers, the roads outside Marrakesh are rarely
crowded. However, the Marrakesh-Casablanca road is reputed for the high
number of accidents. So drive carefully. The Moroccan authorities organize
campaigns for road security during the summer holidays where the roads
know the highest traffic. So if you are driving to Marrakesh in the
summer, expect to stop several times at police checkpoints. If you are
a foreigner, expect to be treated with particular attention.
Marrakesh is a particularly good arrival point to Morocco because of
its centrality. It is located in the intersection of routes to Essaouira
(southern historical Atlantic city) to Ouarzazate (key to gorges south
the Atlas) and to Northern imperial cities.
Marrakesh-Menara airport is a short taxi ride from the city (some 50Dhs
during the day and around 70 Dhs during the night). If you come by train
then the heart of the city is just a few minutes by taxi (say 10Dhs).
Inter-city busses arrive at Bab Doukkala (15 minutes walk to Jamaa El
Fna).
In Marrakesh you can rent a car (the prices vary widely from one agency
to another). Marrakesh is a spread out city built on a plain ; thus
the big number of motorcycles. The rental of a two wheeler is also an
option. Finally, a lot of tourists prefer the picturesque option of
riding through the city in a ‘calèche’ (a horse-drawn
carriage). Remember that taking a calèche to open areas such
as the menara or the ‘Palmeraie gardens’ is a very good idea.
It is a less good one however when it comes to high traffic areas. Take
a taxi instead and do not forget to have change handy. Some taxi-drivers
do not care about meters. Some do that because they know the prices
to known city parts by heart and others to get extra money. Anyway,
a short ride from Gueliz (modern city) to Jamaa El Fna should not exceed
10 Dhs.
The ‘Hassle’ which deterred some tourists years ago is significantly
decreased by the unseen but vigilant presence of the ‘Brigade touristique’.
Annoying unwanted people hassling tourists (those are often non-recognized
guides) run the risk of bearing criminal charges. Therefore, in some
cases, if you have a genuine Moroccan friend, you might have to convince
the brigade that he is causing no problems to you. A Moroccan having
friends abroad is advised to declare to the authorities that he is willing
to host foreigners. He is delivered a permit to accompany them and is
safe from the questions of the ‘Brigade touristique’.
The history of the city
Although Marrakesh has been occupied since Neolithic times, it was first
founded properly in 1062 by Youssef Ben Tachfine, the Almoravid leader.
As a base from which to control the high Atlas Mountains. A kasbah,
Dar el Hajar was build near the koutoubia mosque site. Under Youssef
Ben Tachfine, Marrakesh was an important capital and marketing centre
with the building of its mosques, places and well-known walls as well
as the development of extensive gardens and irrigation system. The population
was probably a mixture of haratine or blacks from Oued Draa, berbers
from the Souss valley and the nearby Atlas, and jewish berbers. The
city attracted leading mediaeval thinkers from outside Marrakesh.
Marrakesh was taken by the Almohads in 1147 who almost totally destroyed,
and rebuilt the city making it making it the capital of their extensive
empire. Under the Almohad Sultan Abdul Moumen the Koutoubia Mosque was
built on the site of Almoravid buildings, with the minaret added by
Yaakub Al Mansour. Under the latter, Marrakesh gained palace, gardens
and irrigation works, and again became a famous centre for musicians,
writers and academics, but on his death it declined and fell to disarray.
Whilst the Merinids added several Medressa to Marrakesh, Fès
received much of their attention, and was preferred as capital, although
from 1374 to 1386 Marrakesh was the centre of a separate prinicipality.
Marrakesh was revitalised by the Saadians from 1524 with the rebuilding
of the Benyoussef mosque, and the construction by Ahmed Al Mansour Ad-Dahbi
of the El Badi Palace and the Saadian Tombs. Marrakesh also became an
important trading post, during to its location between the Sahara and
the Atlantic.
The Alaouites took control of Marrakesh in 1668. In the early 18th century
the city suffered from Moulay Islmail’s love of Meknes, with many
of the major buildings, notably El Badi palace, stripped to glorify
the new capital, and a significant shift in power and wealth. The instructive
effects of this period were compounded by civil strife following his
death. However, under the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Hassan I, from 1873,
and his son, Marrakesh gained a number of important buildings and re-established
its prestige. From 1898 Thami Lglaoui and his family controlled the
city as a powerful Pasha with considerable autonomy from the central
control. A number of leading merchants built palaces in the city.
The French took control of Marrakesh and its region in 1912, crushing
an insurrection by a claimant to the Sultanate. The French built the
ville nouvelle, Gueliz, in the 20th century, but Marrakesh stagnated
in comparison with the coastal cities of Casablanca and Rabat. In the
recent decades the city has grown enormously, with the authorities developing
its tourist appeal and capacity, as well as its role as a reference
centre.
Famous sites
Djemaa El Fna
It’s a unique place in Morocco. Perhaps the greatest pull for tourists,
yet still a genuine social area for the Marrakshi people, and those
flooding in from the surrounding regions, with much aimed solely at
Moroccans. It is a large irregular space of people hawking their goods
or talents and others watching, walking, talking and arguing. Its activity
never seems to finish and at each point of the day has a distinctive
character. It is particularly memorable in Ramadan when the day’s
fast ends. Whatever the time of the day or year, Djemaa El Fna is a
place a visitor will return to again and again responding to the magnetic
pull of that affects locals as well as tourists.
According to many, Djamaa El Fna means the ‘assembly of the dead’
and refer to the display of criminals’ heads executed until the
19th century. Some others make a different approach. Djamaa means ‘mosque’,
a word most frequently used, even today, to refer to a mosque in spoken
Arabic ; and Fna means place or wide area. This word is also existent
in classical and even spoken Arabic though not as widely used as Djamaa.
Djamaa El Fna thus means ‘the mosque of the place’. To our
view this is the most likely etymological explanation of the name since
there is a mosque “Djamaa” in the corner of the place “Fna”.
During the day you can explore the stalls and collections of goods spread
out on the ground : fruit, herbs and spices, clothes, shoes, alarm clocks
and radios, handicrafts too ; there are snake charmers and monkey tanners,
watersellers and widely grinning Gnaoua musicians with giant metal castanets.
All too ready to pose for photographs. Under their umbrellas the fortune
tellers and scribes wait for their clients. In the evening, the crowds
change again, a mix of students and people pausing in the way home.
You may see tumblers, boxers or story tellers and you will certainly
see many food stalls. Musicians are part of the scene. Some of whom
exclusively sing Marrakshi songs but others do sing other things as
the Berber singers singing in Berber and others signing country songs
‘Aitas’. There are other groups that would sing Jil Jilala
or Nas Elghiwan songs (activist groups of the 1970s). There are also
singers who will sing anything that pleases the crowd to receive more
money. There are also Nekkashats (women that would draw designs on your
hand with henna syringes). There are also stalls with tea urns selling
cinnamon and ginseng tea with little dishes of black powdery slilou,
a spicy sweet paste. Djamaa EL Fna has recently received international
recognition for its contribution to the human oral heritage.
The Koutoubia Mosque
The Koutoubia Mosque is to Marrakesh what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris
and the Liberty Statute is to New York. The 65 meter high minaret dominates
Marrakesh
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