Full Day Walking City Tour Of Marrakech

Full Day Walking City Walking Tour

It is a very rewarding journey of seven hours that combines the main historical attractions ,spiced by folk culture and end up with the exotic souks of Marrakech .The tour starts where the history of the city begins which is the foundations at the foot of the kououbia Mosque . It is originally where the Almoravid leader ,Youssef Ibn Tachfin had his ex demolished palace of stones and the first Mosque ever existed in the red city .Succeeded by the Almohad Dynasty in 12 th century , Jacob the victorious dedicated to Marrakesh the standing Koutoubia tower as a compensation for demolishing the previous one under the excuse of being badly oriented towards Meccah .It is an outsanding example of the Medieval architecture ,the highest construction and definetly the landmark. Amazing to know that the victorious Sultan who built it succeeded in extending his authority as far as Spain .The tangible proof is modelling la Giralda in Sevilla as a twin sister of the gorgeous Koutoubia.

How can you be in Marrakesh without rocking its Kasbah ? Here we are in front of its monumental gate named Bab Agnaou . It is the only gate in Marrakesh that has amazing intricate slate work .Another 16th century minaret attracted the beholder by its green tiles , it is actually the second largest mosque in the city totally different from the previous one in decoration and style .Hidden behind it in a little alley way , the saadian Sultans resting in peace .It is a necropolis founded by Ahmed Elmansour Eddahabi the first title aquired once he succeeded in chasing away the Spanish from the coast and defeating the Portuguese in the battle of three kings ; whereas , Eddahbi means the Golden thanks to his expedition from his home town village Zagora on a drommadory down to timbouctou from which he brought a lot of Gold .It took him only 52 days to earn that challenge and since that time timbouctou became the Elderado .Luckilly , he chosed Marrakech as a capital an at the same time as a bridge linking the north to the south which made the Red city prosperous thanks to trade and commerce.

One of the most beautiful buildings to see in Marrakesh is the room of the twelve columns made from Italian Carara Marble paid for its weight in sugar .More than that ,it is the only room in the all the city that still has stunning cedar wood ceiling covered in gold leaf . Intricate stucco work on the high part of the wall in addition to the sofisticated fashionable green tiles on the lower part makes the room more illuminated.

It is very normal for this place to be the kings room , next to it originally a mosque converted as an extention to the first one and that s where grandchildren are burried .The garden separating the two mausolums from the third one , houses graves of the kings servants as a recognition to their loyalty and great sevice . Because most of the graves have no names on them and to give some order to his cemetery ,the king honored his Harem including his mother by building another room.

We leave the dead bodies in peace , then rock the kasbah section to focus on folk culture by crossing a local food market to see the celebration of daily life and the same time to see how Berbers live , wear and shop .After 10 mn walk ,we reach Bahia Palace . By doing so,we are already in the famous Mellah known as jewish quarter. Bahia Palace remains the most highly visited monument in Marrakesh due to its amazing architecture and welcoming gardens .It is a 19th century ex residence of a Grand Visir Ba Ahmed (Prime Minister of the king My Abdelaziz . You will visit only a part of it ,which is big and nice enough to learn about the favorite local architecture of Marrakech homes .Because privacy and secrecy are dominant features of Berber culture , we need to go deeper into it to uncover the secrets of this well-todo life of the sofisticated family.

The main quarters to be visited are the administrative part and the private one where life of the Harem was centered . To make the tour spicy we arrange for a comfort stop for mint tea in a Berber cooperative where women are making spices , natural creams and the famous argan oil . It is a precious opportunity to get genuine oil and spices because the jewish quarter is well known in Marrakesh for having old tradition since 15th century. This opens the appetite for a light Moroccan lunch inone of the terraces near by . Having a bit of rest and energy before we head towards to hurly-burly of the the square and souks.

The square Djemaa Elfna is sandwished between the monuments and the market .As promised , we are not scratching the souks but we digging deeper so as to get you to the corporations where the humble artisans are executing their labor of love . In this respect , you will have plenty of time to connect directly with the Berber artisans and purchase your looked after treasures , the main curiosities and highlights of the Moroccan handicraft are leather goods, Art Deco stuff made from brass bronze puter ,vintange Berber rugs and traditional Moroccan outfit