Marrakesh, Part IV: Djema al-F'naa

For the last installment of my Marrakesh trip, I have included photos of the souq (market) and the large square, Djema al-F'naa.


"Prepare yourself....you're not ready for the heat"

"I just want to buy some gorgeous little things"
"We gave them all the mod-cons"
"She went into the shop with all the old dried up things"

"Down here they are just hanging around on walls....on peasants' walls"
"It's like everything is on-heat"


"If you were starving you would eat this"...."I'd eat it if they took the face off first"
"I think it's fish"



"People keep taking things"..."I had to haggle them up....2000 dirhams!"
"Nothing is for certain...not for any of us....cheers sweetie"

Marrakesh, Part III: Madrasa Ali ben Youssef

This 14th century Qur'anic school was another example of the beautiful medieval architecture in Marrakesh.

Marrakesh, Part II: Palais de la Bahia

One stop we made on Saturday morning was the late 19th century Palais de la Bahia. The tile work and gardens were beautiful, and it was amazing to find this impressive building in the middle of the hectic medina. Some pictures......

From the first courtyard, with pomegranates waiting to ripen in the fall

Inside the residence

Even the floors were intricate

Marrakesh, Part I

A nice bonus of my program here at Al-Akhawayn is that a few trips are included and arranged by the school. This past weekend, we went to Marrakesh. I think I will spread my posts out, as I saw a lot, but today I'll start with the journey down from Ifrane, where the university is, to Marrakesh.

As you drop down out of the Middle Atlas mountains, the terrain flattens and the heat rises. The pine trees and mountains give way to dry rocky landscapes and palms, mixed in among the olive trees and cactus that surround villages.

This was a shot just before entering the city of Marrakesh. The temperature was near 45 Celsius, or around 113 Fahrenheit

As the urban space develops, so too does the traffic, of which a large portion is motorcycles and donkeys.

"It was my turn on the donkey!!!"

As you approach the center of the medina (old city), you will see from some distance the large minaret of the Koutoubia mosque, built in during the reign of the Almohads in the late 1100's. This tower is contemporaneous with the Giralda in Ishbiliyya (Sevilla, Spain), and has many resemblances to that minaret as well.

More to come.....