What you should know Before you travel to Marrakech?

Before you travel to Marrakech, should know about the city:

Marrakesh is Morocco's tourist front, and its capital during the rule of the Almoravids and the Almohads. It is called the red city in relation to the predominant color on its buildings.

Europeans describe it as a charming city for its nature and healthy climate; This made thousands of them choose to settle there, including international personalities and big names in the world of politics, art and sports.

Location

Marrakesh is located in the south of Morocco at the foot of the Atlantic Mountains, thirty kilometers away from them, and it rises 450 meters above sea level, and is 327 kilometers from the capital, Rabat.

The city's area is estimated at 230 square kilometers, and it was described as "the red city, spacious all over, combining heat of heat and shady shade, snow and palm trees."

Population:

Marrakesh is classified as the third largest city in Morocco in terms of population, with a population of more than one million, out of the country's total population, according to official estimates, most of whom work in the service sector, modern and traditional industry, entrepreneurship and public jobs.

More about the red city of Marrakech:

The city's economy depends largely on tourism and real estate activities, as well as on traditional industry as an important tributary of the tourism sector, where more than forty thousand people work in the manufacture of pottery, copper, leather, carpets, etc., in addition to some exhibitions such as the Marrakesh International Exhibition for Industries and Aviation Services.

The city has a transport network and modern roads, a railway and an international airport, which is the second in Morocco in terms of passenger traffic.

Marrakesh was chosen as the best new tourist destination in the world in 2015, in a classification prepared by the global website specialized in travel (TripAdvisor), where Marrakech outperformed the most prestigious international capitals, including London, Rome and Paris.

"Zahrat Al Janoob" achieved first place at the national level, in terms of the number of tourists to the city, with a number exceeding two million tourists in 2014, through which it ranked seventh in the Arab world, in the results of the cities that witnessed the largest number of visitors, according to a report by the British newspaper The Independent.

Marrakesh is the first tourist center in Morocco, and it has an important hotel infrastructure, with more than 1,400 accommodation units, including more than 170 classified hotels.

What you should know about Marrakech?

History,

The foundation of Marrakesh dates back to the time of the Almoravids, and accounts differ in the interpretation of the name; Some believe that Marrakesh is a Berber word that means "pass quickly", and others believe that "Akash" is the name of an ancient god.

There are those who believe that the name "Marrakesh" is due to the Amazigh word "amour n akush", and it is pronounced in the Amazigh language, Amoraksh, meaning the country of God or the land of God, which is a sign of a global dimension, and belonging to all humanity.

The name Marrakesh was called all of Morocco in the past, since it was founded as the capital of the Almoravids until the era of the French occupation in the modern era, and this name is still used in all languages, such as Persian (Marrakesh), Spanish (Maroikos) and English (Morocco).

Historical sources say that the construction of the first nucleus of Marrakesh was in 1070 by a group of Berber tribes who came from the desert, and chose its location because of its proximity to the Lemtouna Desert and the Masmadah Mountains.

It is described as the Red City, because most of its houses were painted in red, and it becomes more beautiful and brighter with the reflection of sunset light on its homes.

Marrakesh is also known as the “City of Seven Men.” Researchers attribute this to a group of great scholars and Sufis who lived in the city and played a major role in spreading political, intellectual and educational awareness among its residents. Al-Abbas Al-Sabti, Muhammad bin Suleiman Al-Jazouli, Abdul-Aziz Al-Taba’, Muhammad bin Ajal Al-Ghazwani, and Abdul-Rahman Al-Dhair.

The city experienced a great urban and organizational prosperity during the reign of Sultan Yusuf bin Tashfin (1061–1107) and became the capital and political and cultural center of the Almoravid state and the entire Islamic West.

Al-Humairi described it in his book Al-Rawd Al-Maattar in the news of the countries as “the largest of the cities of the Far Maghreb, and its trade was great and people competed in building in it, and hotels and baths were built in it, and Caesarea has great architecture, and it is the most of the countries of the Maghreb with gardens, orchards and fruits, and the most olive trees.”

The Almohad state after 1147 contributed to the development of the city after it had taken it as a capital, and left in it landmarks that still exist, and all those who came after them from the Marinids - although they did not take it as a capital - and the Saadians were keen that the walls of bracelets and buildings be painted in the color of bricks and mud closest to red in accordance with the title The red city.

Under the rule of the Alawites, it received attention in the days of Sultan Sidi Muhammad, so many neighborhoods and landmarks were built in it, and a number of its mosques, walls and prominent landmarks were restored.

Landmarks

The city of Marrakesh is full of historical and cultural monuments that bear witness to a long history, including the walls of Marrakesh, which are estimated to be about nine kilometers in length, and have gates, most notably Bab Aknau and Doukkala.

It has the Almoravid dome, which is a living witness that highlights the beauty of Almoravid architecture, and it bears artistic inscriptions with arches and shapes resembling a seven-pointed star.

Some ancient historians and geographers consider the magnificent palace in Marrakesh one of the wonders of the world because it contains four gardens, ornaments, marble, capitals, and columns covered with gold leaf and multicolored tiles.

Among the city's famous landmarks are the Koutoubia Mosque, the Ibn Youssef School, and the Jamaâ El Fna Square, which visitors from inside and outside Morocco pilgrimage to, and UNESCO considered it a human oral heritage in 1997.

The "Palm Capital" contains other historical monuments and monuments, including the "Majorelle Gardens", which contains rare plants and flowers coming from the five continents, and the "Manara Gardens" in the middle of the large Manara reservoir.