Marrakech

[squirmelia]

Ben Youssef Medersa

I mistook the sounds of cats mating for the call to prayer. At 6.30am, I would be woken due to the close proximity of a mosque, or so I thought, but instead, that night, it was the cats that startled me. There were cats almost everywhere I looked in Marrakech and even the tortoise that lived on the roof terrace tended to eat catfood.

The riad where I stayed had pretty blue and white tiles and original ornate plasterwork borders and across the seats were cushions of green and gold. In the centre of the riad, the courtyard felt almost as if it was another room, except when you looked upwards, there was the sky.

Wandering around the centre of Marrakech, I noticed the pinkish hue of the buildings, the natural colour of red ochre. I saw lanterns and carpets that may have been magic and filled with djinn, but I did not stop to look.

I saw scribes, writing frantically, with crowds gathered around them in the Jemaa El Fna.

I saw people who seemed as if they must have been storytellers, but I could not understand the language they spoke.

I saw orange trees and beautiful mosques, ruined palaces with elaborate tiles still remaining and storks nesting, contrasting with the satellite dishes and laundry drying on nearby roofs.

Despite what the Time Out guidebook said, the Bahia Palace did not seem charmless and the Saadian tombs did not remind me of an English parish churchyard. The description of the minbar at the Baadi Palace seemed fairly accurate though - a 12th century pulpit with ornately carved high wooden steps, originally was used in the Koutobia Mosque.

To the north of the many souks, the Ben Youssef Medersa was found and I peered into the small dark rooms, where the Koran would have been studied. Also nearby, was the Musee de Marrakech - a museum that was once a hammam. A giant chandelier that was described as being like a spaceship hung from the ceiling.

Next to the Ben Youssef Mosque was a former stork hospital at Dar Belarj, which I walked past, and also the Koubba El Badiyin, a dome that was probably part of the original mosque.

Around the time the sunlight began to fade, I stared at the many varieties of cacti surrounding gloriously blue-coloured buildings in the Majorelle Gardens (that are now owned by Yves Saint Laurent), glad to be sheltered from the hectic bustle of the city and the chaotic traffic for a few moments.

Comments

[turnedoffneon.livejournal.com]

ruined palaces ♥