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ambitions. The consequent
March 1912 Treaty of Fès made
Morocco France's protectorate.
In this period, a whole
nouvelle
ville
(new city) was constructed
outside the walls of the medina.
*
The Lord of the Atlas
Top 10 Chronicles of
Morocco
!
Travels of Ibn Battuta
(14th century)
This famous Islamic voyager
travelled as far as China. He
regarded Marrakech as “one
of the most beautiful cities .
@
Adventures in
The French enlisted tribal
warlord, Thami El Glaoui to rule
southern Morocco from 1918-55.
The self-styled “Lord of the
Atlas , known for his cruel ways,
ruled the city with an iron fist.
After the French withdrawal in
1955, the citizens took to the
streets against his regime.
(
The crowning of the king
Morocco (1874)
An account by German
Gerhard Rohlfs, who travelled
North Africa as a vagabond.
£
Mogreb-El-Aksa (1897)
Robert Cunninghame
Graham, former Scottish
member of parliament, tried
to reach Taroudant disguised
as a Muslim sheikh.
1955 marked the return of
exiled Sultan Mohammed V who
was crowned king, with Morocco
gaining independence a year
later. The present monarch,
Mohammed VI, is his grandson.
)
Marrakech goes global
$
In Morocco (1920)
A visit to Morocco and
Marrakech in 1917 inspired
novelist Edith Wharton to try
her hand at travel writing.
%
Morocco That Was
(1921)
An entertaining account
(especially of the Moroccan
royalty) by
Times
corres-
pondent Walter Harris.
^
A Year in Marrakech
It is claimed that a French
television programme in the
1990s, stating that a palace in
Marrakech could be purchased
for the price of a flat in Paris,
was the catalyst for the city's
new-found global popularity.
Five-star hotels and budget
airlines soon followed suit.
(1953)
Peter Mayne's engaging
journal of a city little changed
since medieval times.
&
Lords of the Atlas
(1966)
A history of the colourful
Glaoui era by Gavin Maxwell.
*
Hideous Kinky (1992)
Emma Freud's humourous
account of a dysfunctional
1970s childhood in Marrakech.
(
The Tangier Diaries
(1997)
An account by John Hopkins
of 1950s Tangier with drug-
fuelled forays to Marrakech.
)
The Red City (2003)
A collection of writings
on Marrakech down the ages.
Signing the Treaty of Fès
33
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