Marrakesh - the iconic red city 

Every travel writer who has ever been to Marrakesh has written about Djemaa el-Fna, and most of them have failed to do it justice. The square is not just a visual experience. It is an experience of sound, smell, heat, and sustained theatrical chaos that has been running — more or less continuously — for around a thousand years.

The UNESCO designation it received in 2001 was not for any building or monument. It was for the square itself as an example of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity — the oral traditions, the storytellers, the gnawa musicians, the acrobats. It was one of the first such designations ever awarded, and it was deserved.

By dusk, the square transforms. The food stalls are assembled with practised speed. Hundreds of oil lamps and bare bulbs are lit. The smoke from a hundred grills rises into the cooling Marrakesh air. Storytellers gather their circles of listeners. The gnawa musicians — descendants of sub-Saharan slaves brought to Morocco centuries ago — begin their hypnotic, cyclical rhythms.

16 page downloadable PDF file, perfect for downloading onto your device or printing out and taking with you on your travels

Includes sections on;

• Djemaa el-Fna: The Living Heart of Marrakesh

• The Medina: Don't Fight the Labyrinth

• The Souks

• The Medersa Ben Youssef

• The Palaces: Splendour and Its Ruins

• The Gardens: Green in the Desert

• A Few Honest Practicalities

PLEASE NOTE:  This guide is for personal use only, any copying or commercial use is strictly prohibited.

When you purchase a downloadable guide you will be requested to set up a customer account. The guide will appear in the download tab of your customer account, this should be immediate if paying by Paypal, if you pay by Bank Transfer your guide will be available after we have confirmed receipt of payment.