The Red City of Marrakech is known worldwide for its Medina, the fortified old city, and also for the UNESCO Heritage Jemaa el-Fnaa, a huge and bustling square beneath the Medina Quarter. In this courtyard, you can find snake charmers, performing Barbary apes, storytellers, water sellers in vibrant red outfits, henna tattooers, a variety of vendors selling foods and drinks such as grilled meat, lamb brains, snails, sausage links, couscous, and in the market (souk) nearby, you can find a huge selection of Moroccan Shoes, clothing, fabrics, home decorations, spices, perfumes, and countless other colorful stuff too numerous to mention here. There was a bombing terrorist bombing here on April 28 that killed 17 people, but as you can see nearly a month later things are busy and active. It hasn’t broken the spirit of the dynamic people who live here, not by a long shot.
This vibrant center of the Medina Quarter is full of merchants, artists, and tourists, however this old city is much more than just a tourism destination: This walled city was established in the 11th century, and people have been living in this area since. Even the very touristy Jemaa el-Fnaa is much more than just a tourist destination: locals actually come here too, and it has been so for hundreds of years.
The courtyard Jemaa el-Fnaa, and the souk nearby, along with many historical buildings scattered inside the wall, will need their own articles to make you feel the magic of this place. But now I want to firstly show you the charming old atmosphere of the life behind the red wall, nothing like what we had experienced before. It’s very different. It’s very strange. It’s very exotic.
Welcome to the medina quarter of Marrakech
Typical pinkish orange houses and narrow and winding street with arches
A man leaving a mosque
People
Culinary delights
The market aka “souk”
Storage
A cemetery inside the medina
Inside a riad (traditional Moroccan house with garden/courtyard in the middle)
And finally, graffiti! We saw at least 2 of this boy, we need to find out the story behind him.
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