DK Travel : Marrakech : Medersa Ben Youssef

Medersa Ben Youssef

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It is not the oldest or most significant of Marrakech monuments, but the medersa is one of the city’s most impressive buildings and allows entry to non-Muslims. It was built by the Saadian sultan, Moulay Abdellah around 1565, and was rebuilt in the 16th century. It displays all the fine decorative detailing that characterizes what was the golden age of Moroccan architecture. The medersa has also had a brush with movie stardom, as an Algerian Sufi retreat in the Kate Winslet movie Hideous Kinky.

Architectural detail
You can get a ticket that combines visits to the medersa, Musée de Marrakech and Koubba El Badiyin . The neighbouring Musée de Marrakech has a small café selling snacks and drinks. More on fondouks, fondouks around the souks and the Le Foundouk restaurant.

Top 10 Features

1. Ablutions Basin

1. Ablutions Basin

The entrance is via a long, dark corridor leading to a square vestibule opening into a large courtyard. On the left is a marble basin carved with floral motifs in the Andalusian style.
2. Main Courtyard

2. Main Courtyard

At the heart of the medersa is a light-filled courtyard with arcades down two sides, a rectangular pool in the middle and a prayer hall. Every surface has some decoration.
3. Tiling

3. Tiling

The lowest part of the courtyard walls is covered with zellij (mosaic) tiling in an eight-pointed star motif. Above this is a band of stylized Koranic text that is interwoven with floral designs.
4. Carved stucco

4. Carved stucco

Vertical panels of intricately carved plaster stretching above the tiling are decorated with inscriptions or geometric patterns; depiction of humans or animals is prohibited by Islam.
5. Prayer Hall

5. Prayer Hall

The elaborately decorated prayer hall has an octagonal wooden-domed roof supported by marble columns. The stucco features rare palm motifs and calligraphy of Koranic texts. The room is well-lit by openwork gypsum windows which are crowned by stalactite cupolas.
6. The role of the medersa

A medersa was a place for religious instruction – a theological college. The students who boarded here would have studied the Koran in detail and discussed it with the institute’s sheikhs (learned religious figures).
7. Dar Bellarj

To the north of the medersa’s entrance, Dar Bellarj is a former stork hospital (the name means “House of the Storks”). Recently restored, it is now a temporary film school, Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels de Marrakech.
8. Student Cells

8. Student Cells

Arranged on two levels around the central courtyard are 130 tiny rooms. Much like monks’ cells, nearly 900 students from Muslim countries studied here until the medersa fell out of use in the 1960s.
9. Chrob au Chouf Fountain

9. Chrob au Chouf Fountain

A twist and turn north of the medersa, this hand-some fountain is worth seeking out. A big cedar lintel covered in calligraphy, it is a relic of a time when it was pious to provide a public source of clean drinking water; an act rewarded in the afterlife.
10. Rue de Souk des Fassis

This wriggling alley to the medersa’s east is lined by beautifully restored fondouks or old hostels. Some are now centres for artisans. One is a fine restaurant, Le Foundouk.

Practical Information

You can get a ticket that combines visits to the medersa, Musée de Marrakech and Koubba El Badiyin . The neighbouring Musée de Marrakech has a small café selling snacks and drinks. Fondation Omar Benjelloun, Place Ben Youssef, Medina 024 44 18 93 Open Apr–Sep 9am–7pm daily; Oct–Mar 9am–6pm daily Adm 40 Dh; combined ticket to visit Musée de Marrakech and Koubba El Badiyin 60 Dh, discount 8–18 years, under-8 years free www.musee.ma musee.de.marrakech@menara.ma