50 Fun Facts About Marrakech

Marrakech ranks where among Morocco's cities by size?

It is one of the country's four imperial cities and the capital of the Marrakesh-Safi region.

What colour gives Marrakech its famous nickname?

The walls of orange-red clay and chalk were built by Ali ibn Yusuf in 1122–1123.

Which mountain range rises to the south-east of Marrakech?

Snow on the High Atlas is visible from the city on clear winter days.

Marrakech lies in the valley of which river?

The Ourika valley, a popular day trip, is about 30 km to the south.

Which dynasty founded Marrakech around 1070 as its capital?

Chieftain Abu Bakr ibn Umar founded it; its emirate stretched from Senegal to central Spain.

Which ruler built the city's red walls in 1122–1123?

The ramparts run about 19 km around the medina with 20 gates and 200 towers.

Roughly how far do the medina ramparts stretch?

They stand up to 19 feet high and are made of orange-red clay and chalk.

Which movement captured Marrakech in 1147 after a months-long siege?

Abd al-Mu'min then founded the Koutoubia Mosque next to the old Almoravid palace.

Which city took over as capital when the Marinids conquered Marrakech in 1269?

Marrakech regained capital status under the Saadians in the 16th century.

Which Saadian sultan began El Badi Palace in 1578?

It used Italian marble and was built mainly to host ambassadors from Spain, England and the Ottomans.

How many patron saints of Marrakech do Sufi pilgrims visit in sequence?

The festival was founded during the late 17th-century reign of Moulay Ismail.

Who was Pasha of Marrakech for almost the entire French Protectorate?

The 'Lord of the Atlas' plotted to replace Sultan Mohammed V and fell when the sultan returned in 1955.

In which year did Morocco regain independence from France?

A protocol was signed on 2 March 1956 after Mohammed V returned from exile in Madagascar.

Until 1867, which group could not enter the city without the sultan's special permission?

East European Jews were permitted entry.

Which fashion designer bought and restored the Majorelle Garden?

A stele in the garden honours him; the villa is painted a vivid dark blue.

Who originally created the Majorelle Garden?

Jacques Majorelle's garden has been open to the public since 1947 and holds plants from five continents.

In which year did UNESCO list the medina of Marrakech as a World Heritage Site?

The listing includes Jemaa el-Fnaa, the souks and the Koutoubia Mosque.

Which international body was established by the Marrakesh Agreement of 15 April 1994?

Three years later the city hosted the first World Water Forum.

Which UN event did Marrakech host in November 2016?

Seven years later it hosted the IMF and World Bank annual meetings a month after a deadly earthquake.

Which business on the main square was destroyed in the April 2011 bomb attack?

Fifteen people, mostly foreigners, were killed.

Marrakech's medina is home to how many souks?

They employ more than 40,000 people in pottery, copperware, leather and other crafts.

What is the meaning historians consider most plausible for the name Jemaa el-Fnaa?

A late 16th-century mosque begun in the square was never finished and fell into ruin.

How tall is the Koutoubia Mosque's minaret, the city's tallest?

It likely influenced the Giralda in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat.

Which Almohad caliph founded the Koutoubia Mosque in 1147?

He rebuilt it entirely around 1158; that second version is the one standing today.

Which famous gate, built by Ya'qub al-Mansur, was the main entrance to the Kasbah?

Its floral carving is framed by a Quranic inscription in foliated Kufic script.

In which year were the Menara Gardens established?

Abd al-Mu'min laid them out around a reservoir fed by khettara channels from the Atlas foothills.

Which historic green space, ringed by pisé walls, is the city's largest at 340 hectares?

The Agdal Gardens date from the reign of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf; the Menara Gardens cover about 96 hectares.

What is a riad?

The design, based on the Roman villa, gives privacy and keeps interiors cool.

The Saadian Tombs stand beside the south wall of which place of worship?

Ahmad al-Mansur's chamber has a cedar roof on twelve columns of Carrara marble.

How many student dormitory cells cluster around the Ben Youssef Madrasa courtyard?

At its peak it housed as many as 900 students; it reopened as a historic site in 1982.

Which Saadian sultan built the Ben Youssef Madrasa in 1564?

He also rebuilt the Ben Youssef Mosque and founded the Mouassine complex.

What was the Mellah of Marrakech?

Created in 1558 on the site of the sultan's stables, it was home to tailors, bankers and jewellers.

Which grand hotel, built in 1925, was a favourite painting spot for Winston Churchill?

The 231-room 'grand dame of Marrakesh hotels' also hosted Prince Charles and Mick Jagger.

Which new-town district was laid out outside the old city during the French Protectorate?

Avenue Mohammed VI, formerly Avenue de France, is now lined with hotels and malls.

Which trance-like music, tied to rituals of deliverance from slavery, arose in the city?

It is played on castanets, three-stringed ribabs and deff drums and builds toward trance.

Tanjia marrakshia, the city's signature dish, is slow-cooked in what?

Its nickname bint ar-rimad means 'daughter of the ash'.

What does the spice blend name ras el hanout literally mean?

The mix can include ash berries, grains of paradise, monk's pepper, nutmeg and turmeric.

What is a pastilla?

It is prepared with almonds, cinnamon, spices and sugar.

Which lane in the medina is famous for slow-roasted lamb?

Kefta, merguez and tripe stew are sold at the stalls on Jemaa el-Fnaa.

The city's International Film Festival, founded in 2001, models itself on which festival?

Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Roman Polanski have attended.

Who founded the Marrakech Biennale in 2004?

It spans visual arts, cinema, literature, performing arts and architecture.

Who was elected Marrakech's first female mayor in 2009?

The 33-year-old lawyer won a second term in 2021.

Which motor-racing series has raced at the Circuit Moulay El Hassan since 2017?

The track also hosts the World Touring Car Championship.

What is the three-letter code of Marrakech-Menara Airport?

The airport sits about 3 km southwest of the centre at 471 metres elevation.

Which kind of vehicles run on the BRT Marrakesh rapid-transit line opened in 2017?

The city's railway station links to Casablanca, Tangier, Fez, Meknes and Rabat.

Which motorway links Marrakech to Casablanca?

The toll expressway runs 210 km north and continues to Agadir in the south-west.

Which Malian city is twinned with Marrakech?

Granada, Marseille, Scottsdale, Ningbo and Sousse are among the others.

Which Israeli nuclear whistleblower was born in Marrakech?

Billionaire Marc Lasry and pop singer Manal Benchlikha are also from the city.

What was Marrakech's population at the 2014 census?

Only about 22% of residents still lived in the medina by 2004, down from 51% in 1984.

In Persian and Urdu, the name of Marrakech still refers to what?

European names like Maroc and Marruecos also derive from Murrākuš.