MOROCCO: Marrakesh

We started our tour of Morocco in Marrakech and we also ended it there.

This worked perfectly for shoppers that wanted to pick up a few of those "must have" items that they may have missed along the way.

However, that made no difference to John and me because we do not have any room for any more items in our suitcases. Siiiiiigh.

I guess the upside is that we could just enjoy the city without any "shopping pressure".

Marrakech is the main city of central Morocco and lies in the centre of a fertile irrigated plain. It was founded in the mid 11th century and was the first of Morocco’s four Imperial Cities. 

An iconic landmark in Marrakech is the Koutoubia Mosque. Built in the 12th century, it is one of the oldest mosques in the country. The mosque is built from red sandstone and has a large minaret that stands 77 meters tall. 

The ancient section of the city, known as the medina with its many souks, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. 

I found this to be an interesting juxtaposition.

Cell phones dominate people's lives around the world.

This is a community oven where people drop off their unbaked loaves of bread and come back later to pick them up freshly baked.

The medina is called the “red city” because it is made of beaten red clay.

The heart of the medina is Jamaa el-Fna square, a vibrant open marketplace. 

I stopped for a split section to take a preliminary picture of this group of snake charmers. No sooner was my phone in my hands and a guy runs over harassing me for money. I was so shocked at the speed of his approach that I just handed over some coins and scurried away. All I got was this one lousy picture. 

On Friday Sept 8th, 2023,  five weeks before we arrived in Marrakech, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit in the High Atlas mountains. The epicentre of the quake was around 70 km (45 miles) southwest of Marrakech.  

Most of the damage in Marrakech occurred in the medina because the historic buildings were not constructed with earthquake standards

But as human nature is resilient, restoration is in place.

Fortunately. life continues and it will be interesting to see how it is rebuilt.