Monuments

Mosques

Koutoubia Mosque

Koutoubia Mosque

Koutoubia Mosque, also known as Kutubiyya Mosque, Jami' al-Kutubiyah, Kutubiyyin Mosque, and Mosque of the Booksellers, is the largest mosque in the city, located in the southwest medina quarter of Marrakesh aside the square. The minaret, 77 metres (253 ft) in height, includes a spire and orbs. It was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184 to 1199), and has inspired other buildings such as the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower of Rabat. The mosque is made of red stone and brick in a traditional Almohad style, and measures 80 metres (260 ft) in width towards the east and 60 metres (200 ft) to the west along a north to south direction. It was designed so as to prevent anyone gazing in from the minaret to the harems of the king.There are four entrances to the mosque, of which three open directly into the prayer hall. There are six interior rooms, one above the other. The minaret is designed in Umayyad style and was constructed of sandstone. It was originally covered with Marrakshi pink plaster, but in the 1990s, experts opted to expose the original stone work and removed the plaster. The spire includes gilded copper balls, decreasing in size towards the top, a traditional style of Morocco.

Ben Youssef Mosque

Located in the medina with a green tiled roof and a minaret, Ben Youssef or Ben Yusef is the oldest mosque in the city. It was originally built in the 12th century by the Almoravid Sultan Ali ibn Yusuf in honor of Yusuf ibn Ali al-Sanhaji ("Sidi Yusef ben Ali"). When built it was the city's largest mosque but now it is half of its original size. It was rebuilt by Saadian Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib, as the original had falled into ruin. He also built a madrasa with a very well stocked library of books beside the mosque. However, this also fell into ruin, leaving only today's 19th century mosque.

The Almoravid Koubba Ba’adiyn, also known as Kobbat el Mourabitine or Kobba el Boroudiyine, is a two storied kiosk which was discovered in 1948 from a sunken location on the mosque site. In the Moroccan architectural style, it is a double storied structure with arches, scalloped on the ground floor and twin horseshoe shaped in the first floor, combined with a turbaned motif. The dome is framed with a battlement decorated with arches and seven pointed stars. The interior of the octagonally arched dome is decorated with very distinguishing carvings bordered by a Kufic freeze inscribed with the name of the creator, Ali ibn Yusuf. The quinches at the corner of the dome are covered with muqarnas. The kiosk has motifs of pine cones, palms and acanthus leaves which are also replicated in the Ben Youssef Madrasa.

Mouassine Mosque

The Mouassine Mosque (also known as the Al Ashraf Mosque) was built in the 14th century in the style of the Almohads. It is part of the Mouassine complex which includes a library, a hamman, a madrasa and the Mouassine Fountain, the largest and most important in the city. Located on a small square to the north of the mosque, it is a tripled-arched fountain of Saadian origin. It is ingrained with geometric patterns and calligraphy.

Palaces

Wealth in the city is manifested in palaces and many other mansions and lavish houses.The main palaces are Badi Palace, the Royal Palace and Bahia Palace. Mansions, known asriads, are common in Marrakesh, defined as "traditional courtyarded homes" which are "based on the Roman villa, with a large interior garden surrounded by high walls to obscure it from the view of passers-by, the principle of the construction was to allow privacy and cooler temperatures inside." ) Buildings of note inside the Medina are Riad Argana, Riad Obry, Riad Enija, Riad el Mezouar, Riad Frans Ankone, Dar Moussaine, Riad Lotus, Dar Marzotto, Dar Darma, and Riad Pinco Pallino. Others of note outside the Medina area include Ksar Char Bagh, Amanjena, Villa Maha, Dar Ahlam, Dar Alhind and Dar Tayda.

Badi Palace

Badi Palace

The Badi Palace or Badii Palace, along with the Royal Palace, flanks the eastern side of the Kasbah. It was built by Saadian Ahmad al-Mansur after his success against the Portuguese at the Battle of the Three Kings in 1578. The lavish palace, which took around a quarter of a century to build, was funded by compensation from the Portuguese and Black African gold and sugar cane revenue. This allowed Carrara marble to be imported from Italy, other materials coming from France, Spain and even India. It is a larger version of the Alhambra's Court of the Lions. The Marrakech Folklore Festival is held in the spring at the palace.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace, also known as Dar el-Makhzen, is located next to the Badi Palace. It was built on the site of the Almohad kasba, by the Almohads in the 12th century and underwent changes by the Saadians in the 16th century and the Alaouites in the 17th century. Historically, it was one of the palace owned by the Moroccan king, and the palace employed some of the most genial craftsmen in the city. One visitor in the mid 1980s described the reception room which was "filled with Grand Concourse-repro Victorian settees covered in white-and-gold." The palace is not open to the public, and is now privately owned by French businessman Dominique du Beldi. The rooms are large, with unusually high ceilings for Marrakech, with zellige and cedar painted ceilings. At the entrance is an ancient pulley fastened to the ceiling.

Bahia Palace

Bahia Palace

The Bahia Palace, set in extensive gardens, was built in the late 19th century by the Grand Vizier of Marrakesh, Si Ahmed ben Musa (Bou-Ahmed). Bou Ahmed resided here with his four wives, 24 concubines and many children. With a name meaning "brilliance", it was intended to be the greatest palace of its time and, as in similar developments of the period in other countries, it was designed to capture the essence of the Islamic and Moroccan style. Bou-Ahmed paid special attention to the privacy of the palace in its construction and employed architectural features such as multiple doors which prevented unwelcome views of the interior. The palace took seven years to build, with hundreds of craftsmen from Fes working on its wood, carved stucco and zellij. The palace acquired a reputation as one of the finest in Morocco and was the envy of other wealthy citizens. Upon the death of Bou-Ahmed, the palace was raided by Sultan Abdel Aziz. There is a 2 acre (8,000 m²) garden with rooms opening onto courtyards.

Tombs

Saadian Tombs

Saadian Tombs

The Saadian Tombs were built in the 16th century as a mausoleum to bury many Saadian rulers and entertainers. It was lost for many years until the French rediscovered it in 1917 using aerial photographs. The mausoleum comprises the corpses of about sixty members of the Saadi Dynasty that originated in the valley of the Draa River. Among the graves are those of Ahmad al-Mansur and his family. The building is composed of three rooms, of which the best known is the room with the twelve columns. This room contains the grave of the son of the sultan's son Ahmad al-Mansur. Architecturally it represents Islamic architecture, with floral motifs, calligraphy and geometric mosaic tiles (zellij) and carrara marble, and the stele is in finely worked cedar wood and stucco work. Outside the building is a garden and the graves of soldiers and servants.

Seven Saints Tombs

In the Medina of Marrakesh, there are seven tombs of the “Patron Saints of Morocco”, which are visited every year by pilgrims on successive days during the ziara (a week long pilgrimage) It is believed that these saints are only sleeping and will wake up one day to do good deeds. A pilgrimage to the tombs was considered as an alternative to pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina for people of western Morocco who could not visit due to arduous journey involved. The most important of the seven tombs is the shrine of Sidi bel Abbas. The spiritual tour, known as the Visit of the Seven Men of Marrakech, includes a rotary movement as an expression of the quest for inner perfection. The tour of the Seven Saints Tombs follows the city's configuration rather than the Patron Saints' chronological order. Performed on Fridays, the tour follows a sequence: Sidi Yusuf ibn Ali Sanhaji, Sidi al-Qadi Iyyad al-Yahsubi, Sidi Abul Abbas Sabti, Sidi Mohamed ibn Sulayman al-Jazouli, Sidi Abdellaziz Tabba'a, Sidi Abdellah al-Ghazwani, and lastly, the tomb of Sidi Abderrahman al-Suhayli.

Mellah

The mellah (old Jewish Quarter) is situated in the kasbah area of the city's medina, east of Place des Ferblantiers. It was created in 1558 by the Saâdians at the site where the sultan's stables had previously been situated. At the time, the Jewish community consisted of a large portion of the city's bankers, jewelers, metalworkers, and tailors, and sugar traders. During the 16th century, the Mellah had its own fountains, gardens, synagogues, and souks. Up to the French arrival in 1912, Jews could not own property outside of the Mellah, so expansion occurred within its quarter, explaining the narrow streets, small shops, and higher placement of houses. The present Mellah, now named Hay Essalam, is smaller than the original one, and has an almost entirely Muslim population within its largely residential quarter. The Alzama Synagogue is built around a courtyard. The Jewish cemetery, the largest Jewish cemetery in Morocco, characterized by white-washed tombs 

and sandy graves, is adjacent to the mellah, within the medina.

Koutoubia Mosque earlier