- Address: Place Jemaa El Fna, Rue el Ksour, Marrakech, Maroco
- Phone: +212 661 395836
- Website: http://www.jemaa-el-fna.com/
- Opening hours: 24 hours, Saturday-Sunday - closed
Jemaa al-Fna Square is the largest square in Marrakech in Morocco and is one of the main attractions of the city. Since 2001, it has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage List. On Djemaa al-Fna in Marrakesh, there is a trail of the mystical Ancient East, which attracts tourists to it. Until midnight, the noise does not abate in the square - street performers, jugglers, folk storytellers, snake charmers, snack bars on wheels, the oriental bazaar, national music and dancing all create a local unique color. Famous composer and writer of the 20th century Paul Bowles noted that without its famous square, the magnificent Marrakech would be an ordinary city.
History of the area
There are various versions of the emergence, both the name and the Jemaa al-Fna itself, but they all boil down to the fact that it was intended for slave trade and execution. In Arabic, the name sounds like "a meeting of the dead" or "the area of severed heads." The appearance of the square goes back to the Middle Ages. In its place were going to build a huge mosque, but the construction was prevented by the death of King Ahmed El-Mansour as a result of the plague epidemic, and the site of the construction became an area. In the 70s, the place was popular with hippies, who often went to eat local potatoes.
What to see in the square?
Jemaa al-Fna ... it does not last long, it dies for a few hours in the morning, and then again all day there is a noise and a din. With the dawn, trays appear on the square, where you can find everything your heart desires: fresh fruit and dried fruits, spices, nuts, souvenirs, national clothes and other joys of a shopping lover. But with clever traders you need to keep distance, otherwise you can stay without money with a bunch of unnecessary trash in your hands. Immediately you will be offered to treat dentists with dubious reputation.
Fans of henna drawings can use the services of local masters. But the tattoo is still better to go to the cafe Henna Cafe Marrakesh. Well, what about without a photo with a monkey or a cobra? By the evening, mobile kitchens - "restaurants on wheels" - come to the square to feed everyone. Gourmets have a lot to try - meat ragout - tazhin, mutton mutton, snail from snails and pie - bastila and other dishes of Moroccan cuisine .
Jemaa al-Fna in Marrakesh is enveloped in a dense fog, woven from exotic scents. So the Moroccans live from day to day and the new day does not look like the previous one. And yet in all this eastern, slightly gypsy cacophony has its own charm. In late autumn, the international film festival in Marrakech is held, and Jemaa al-Fna turns into an open-air cinema.
Neighborhood
The square itself is located in the center of the medina (the old part of the city). From the northern part of the square there is a stationary market and a hospital, on the other hand - riads and hotels , a cafe.
Near the square is the Koutoubia Mosque, the largest mosque in the city of Marrakech, built in the 12th century. It can be seen only from the outside, the mosque is closed to the infidels. If you walk a little more, you can get to the main museum of Marrakech . It is located in the restored 19th century palace Dar Mnibhi. But, walking around the neighborhood, you mystically attracted back to Jemaa al-Fna.
How to get to the square?
Get to the square you can walk from nearby hotels or rent a wagon or a taxi.
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