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Marrakech - History |
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Marrakech became the capital of a vast empire in the reign of Youssef Ben Tachfine-an empire which, under the Almohads, reached as for as the frontiers of Libya. The first Almohad sovereign, Abdelmoumen began the construction of the Koutoubia mosque, which his grandson Yacoub El Mansour adorned with a superb minaret, still standing today. Marrakech reached the height of its glory. Built in the same epoch as Seville's "la Giralda" and Rabat's "Tour Hassan", the Koutoubia, dating from the 11th century, is a true masterpiece of hispano-moorish art. Its minaret rises to almost 70 metres.
Framed by the snowy heights of the Atlas, with rose-coloured ramparts and a thousand year old palm grove, Marrakech casts a magic spell. Sumptuous and exuberant, it radiates splendour and mysticism; at the dye merchants, in the explosion of multicoloured wools; at Festival time, in the rhythm of the music, in the emotion of the dancers; in the idle talk of the merchants and in the skill of the jugglers. Enchantment, you feel in the shade of the blue gardens and in the overwhelming perfection of the Koutoubia. |
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The
first feeling one has when entering this particular imperial capital is of
pure enchantment. We are bewitched-falling under the spell of the place
and its people, folk artists to their very souls who have only one aim in
view to make a stay in their city as entrancing an experience as possible.
With its world-famous square, Jamaâ El Fna, the beacon city of the
Almoravids was founded in about 1070 with a view to controlling traffic
from the nearby Atlas. It was from this rudimentary settlement that the
earliest conquests were launched. Abou Bakr, head of the Almoravids,
undertook the construction of a kasbah, nicknamed the "stone
castle" only yards away from the present site of the Koutoubia.
The
Badi Palace has long been regarded as a wonder of the Muslim world. It
was the sovereign Ahmed El Mansour Dahbi who undertook construction of the
palace following his victory over the Portuguese in the year 986 of the
hejira (1578), a victory well-known in the Western World under the name of
the Battle of the Three Kings. The major construction work went on for
sixteen years. Other marvels to be found in the Red City are the Dar Si
Said museum, containing much quintessential Moroccan art and displaying
the glittering array of gold and marble ornaments collected by Ahmed El
Mansour (1578 - 1603), greatest of Saadian rulers, the Medersa Ben Youssef,
a koranic school founded in 1570 by Moulay Abdallah and a true masterpiece
of Merinid architecture, the Agdal gardens, laid out in the 12th century
during the reign of Abdelmoumen and the Menara, a magnificent artificial lake fringed with flowers.
