Marrakech Discovery

In 1070 a Saharan chieftain from a large caravan town in Mauretania led a powerful army north of the Atlas Mountains to the site of Marrakech, originally named the land of the sons of Kouch. Caravans followed in its wake and the fledgling city grew rich on trade in gold and ivory. Marrakech was the capital of an empire from Toledo to Senegal, called the ‘Pink City’ because of the local earth used in its construction. It is a city of labyrinthine alleyways, secluded palaces, museums, mosques and markets with city gardens still supplied of 11th-century underground irrigation canals. The Djemma el-Fna (Square of the Dead), the city square, comes alive after nightfall; thronged with dancers, fortune-tellers, musicians, acrobats, storytellers and snake charmers. It is an exciting and occasionally bewildering place – an exotic spectacle that is striking and endlessly surprising.

The Atlas Mountains are a dramatic backdrop for this fascinating city and excursions into the mountains reveal fine scenery and Berber villages. The small Atlantic harbour town of Essaouira, the ‘blue and white’ town once known as Mogador and the ‘port of Tomboctou’, lies at the coastal end of an ancient trading route. It became a Portuguese trading post and the fine fortress was used by Orson Welles for his 1949 film, Othello, whilst in the 60s and 70s many musicians and artists made it their home. Visit the port with its gaily painted fishing boats and the ancient medina where Portuguese and Moroccan architectural styles combine, silver jewellers ply their trade and Moroccan artists exhibit their work.