North and South of the Marrakech Old Town

The Marrakech Medina is the center of Marrakech as well as the center of its history and culture.

Source: Regional Council of Tourism Marrakech (CRT)

The entire area covers 600 hectares, and is one of the largest Medinas in population and area in Morocco and North Africa. The design and city characteristics are in accordance with the styles of the buildings dating back to the 11th century. It was initially built surrounding a military camp, Qasr El Hajar, and a market; in the 12th century, in order to avoid the attack of the Berbers, a castle (Kasbah) was built on the plain occupied by the Berbers’ tribe. This action helped the long-term ruling of the Almoravid dynasty. The renowned Marrakech old wall changed a great deal after different dynasties, during which they built lots of city gates (Bab). So far, the height of the city wall is as tall as 8-10 meters, and it stretches more than 19 km. In 1985, the Media was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Source: Regional Council of Tourism Marrakech (CRT)

In recent years, buying a house has turned out to be a serious problem. The traditional Morocco houses have been built surrounding the central square, and so the houses around the Medina in Marrakech are very expensive. Therefore, more and more families with low incomes cannot live here, and they have to move to an area far away from here. Some families have even moved out of the city. On the other hand, due to the characteristics of the Medina, lots of young people come here because of its beautiful scenery. Therefore, the tourism industry has started to boom in this area. Although the Medina cannot be seriously regarded as a museum, it has attracted more than 40,000 craftsmen with different cultures to work here.

Source: Regional Council of Tourism Marrakech (CRT)

In 1558, the Mellah “Marrakech Southeastern Area” was built near the royal palace. That time, the area was under the ruling of Moulay Abdellah. Building this area was aimed at protecting the Jewish moving into the nation. Since the Mellah district was the Jewish community in Marrakech, the area has multiple features. You can also see such features in Fez, for the city also accepted the Jewish refugees.

Source: Regional Council of Tourism Marrakech (CRT)

The Agdal garden neighboring the royal palace in the south was constructed by the historian El Haj Ya'is of the Almohad dynasty in 1156, and the historian came from the renowned Koutoubia area. Agdal’s old meaning is a garden, and the name was given by the Berbers. The word Aguedal used to describe the garden has relations to water. This area has been using the underground water since the 11th century, and people built reservoirs in the valley Ourika later. The two large reservoirs guarantee that there is enough rain water storage, and the larger Es Sala Reservoir is used to train soldiers to swim.