Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
City Walk:
Mazing Medina
START BAB BOU JELOUD
END R'CIF SQ
LENGTH 3KM; TWO TO THREE HOURS
This route takes you from Bab Bou Jeloud to the Kairaouine Mosque, then south to R'cif. It could take
a couple of hours or all day, depending on the number of distractions.
Unlike much of the rest of the city walls and gates, the main entry, Bab Bou Jeloud , is a recent
addition, built in 1913. Pass through it and you come upon a hive of activity. The pavement cafes here
are excellent places for people-watching.
For the tour, take the first left and then right downhill along Talaa Kebira. This part of the street is a
produce market - watch out for the camel butcher displaying the heads of his wares. Where the pro-
duce ends you're at the
Medersa Bou Inania ( Click here ), which represents the Merenid building
style at its most perfect.
Opposite the entrance to the medersa (above eye-level) is the famous 14th-century water clock
designed by a clockmaker and part-time magician. Carved beams held brass bowls with water flowing
between them to mark the hours, but the secret of its mechanism died with its creator.
Continuing downhill, notice the old funduqs (caravanserai) on both sides of Talaa Kebira. These
once hosted merchants and their caravans, and have rooms on several levels around a wide courtyard
for both goods and pack animals. Funduq Kaat Smen is particularly interesting, specialising in
many varieties of honey and vats of smen, the rancid butter used in cooking.
About 400m from the Medersa Bou Inania, as you go around an unmistakable dogleg, you'll soon
catch sight of the pretty, green-tiled minaret of the Chrabliyine Mosque (named for the slipper-
makers who can still be found working in this area) straight ahead.
Still heading downhill, past the shoe sellers and leatherworkers, look out for a right turn onto Derb
Fkahrine and a sign indicating the entrance to a tiny tree-filled square known as the henna souq -
if you start walking uphill, you've gone too far. Cosmetic shops sell oils and henna. Pottery and bric-
a-brac stalls abound, too.
Exiting the henna souq the same way you entered, turn left (south). After 50m a right turn brings
you into
Pl an-Nejjarine . The lanes immediately north of the museum form part of the
Souq
an-Nejjarine (Carpenters' Souq), where craftsmen create glittering wedding thrones.
From Pl an-Nejjarine, continue south, turning left almost immediately and ducking under the bar
that prevents the passage of mules and donkeys. The lane leads between stalls piled high with candles
and incense, to the entrance of the newly restored Zawiya Moulay Idriss II . Non-Muslims cannot
enter but can peer inside. To Fassis, this is the heart of their medina.
Afterwards, it's simplest to backtrack to Talaa Kebira. Follow the lane east - over a slight hummock
and past haberdashers' stalls - until it ends at a T-junction about 100m later, where you'll find the
Medersa el-Attarine ( Click here ).
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