Marrakesh & Central Morocco - Morocco - page 123

Al-Mansour played favourites even in death, keeping alpha-male princes handy in the
Chamber of the Three Niches , and relegating to garden plots some 170 chancellors and wives
- though some trusted Jewish advisors earned pride of place, literally closer to the king's
heart than his wives or sons. All tombs are overshadowed by his mother's mausoleum in
the courtyard, carved with poetic, weathered blessings and vigilantly guarded by stray
cats.
Al-Mansour died in splendour in 1603, but a few decades later, Alawite Sultan Moulay
Ismail walled up the Saadian Tombs to keep his predecessors out of sight and mind. Ac-
cessible only through a small passage in the Kasbah Mosque, the tombs were neglected by
all except the storks until aerial photography exposed them in 1917.

Mellah
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In the narrow derbs (alleys) of the city's historic Jewish quarter are the tallest mudbrick
buildings in Marrakesh. Most of the Jewish families moved away in the 1960s, but the
mellah remains notable for tall mudbrick homes along single-file streets and cross-alley
gossip through wrought-iron balconies. Local guides may usher you into the local syn-
agogue, and the miaâra OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP , or Jewish cemetery, where the gate-
keeper admits visitors paying respects to whitewashed tombs topped with rocks for re-
membrance (Dh10 tip expected).
To see the living legacy of mellah artisans and spice traders, check out the Place des
Ferblantiers, the Grand Bijouterie and the Mellah Market ( Click here ) .

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Badi Palace
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HISTORIC SITE

( palace/palace plus Koutoubia minbar Dh10/20; 9am-4.45pm) As 16th-century Sultan Ahmed
el-Mansour was paving the Badi Palace with gold, turquoise and crystal, his court jester
wisecracked, 'It'll make a beautiful ruin'. That jester was no fool: 75 years later the place
was looted. Today it's hard to guess the glories of el-Badi (the Incomparable) from the
vast courtyard, although its four sunken gardens and reflecting pools give a hint of its
former majesty and make for instant atmosphere during the Festival of Popular Arts in
July.
Check out the view of Marrakesh from atop the pisé (rammed-earth) ramparts, and the
temporary exhibits of the new Marrakesh Museum for Photography & Visual Arts ( Click
here ) housed in the Khaysuran Pavilion on the south side of the courtyard.