Archivi tag: Holidays

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THE RITUAL OF THE MOROCCAN HAMMAM

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Perhaps some of you have never gone to a hammam. Today I will tell you some features as the hammam is to be added to your “things to do” list when you come to Morocco! The art of the hammam (steam bath) is an ancient and integral part of Moroccan life since water, considered sacred, and cleanliness are essential elements of Islam. In a part of the world where family and community are everything, the hammam is deeply rooted in daily community life.

This is where people go to socialize, gossip, make connections, do business and even organize weddings !! There are hammams throughout the medina, some are basic – a couple of small tiled rooms, heralded by a faded “hammam” sign – and others are hundreds of years old and full of character, with large domed rooms heated by fires to wood under the buildings.

You can choose two types of hammams: Local hammams
Hammam for tourists

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MARRAKECH E DINTORNI

THE SECRET GARDEN

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One of the largest and oldest riads in the Marrakech medina. The origins of the complex can be traced back to the time of the Saadian dynasty, over four hundred years ago.
Rebuilt in the mid-19th century by an influential Atlas kingpin, the Secret Garden has been the home of some of the highest political figures in Morocco and Marrakech. The riad, which we can fully appreciate today thanks to its recent restoration, is part of the great tradition of Arab-Andalusian and Moroccan palaces: the visitor can thus discover the gardens and the buildings which compose it and which constitute as many exceptional testimonies of the art of Arab gardens, architecture and hydraulics. Thanks to the thousand-year-old and ingenious hydraulic technique of the khettara, Le Jardin Secret had indeed from its origin domestic water, a rare privilege and an additional sign of its wealth. The riad’s original water system has also been restored: the “water routes” clearly show the way in which water from the Atlas was distributed inside the palace to irrigate the gardens and supply the kitchens, the hammam and the fountains.

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MARRAKECH E DINTORNI

RAMPARTS AND WALLS OF MARRAKECH

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What is most striking when approaching the medina of Marrakech is the incredible color of its walls, a warm pink due to the clayey soil of which they are made.
It’s called pisé, and it is an ancient construction technique that today is not completely gone and indeed, it is arousing new interest in the field of eco-sustainable buildings.
Their construction began in 1062, when the Almoravids established the camp in the oasis between the desert and the Atlantic, where the trans-Saharan caravans stopped to stock up on the waters of the Ourika.

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MARRAKECH E DINTORNI

SAADIAN TOMBS

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Located next to the mosque of the Kasbah, the Saadian tombs are one of the only remains of the Saadian dynasty that reigned over the golden age of Marrakech between 1524 to 1659. In the early 18th century, Sultan Moulay Ismail had indeed decided to remove all traces of the magnificence of this dynasty by demanding the destruction of all remaining vestiges. He dared not, however, commit the sacrilege of destroying their burials and ordered that the entrance to the necropolis should be completed. The secret remained well kept until 1917, date of the rediscovery of the site of the Saadian tombs.

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DAR BELLARJ

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The House of Storks (Dar Bellarj in Arabic) is a foundation for culture in Morocco with the aim of promoting and perpetuating the arts and traditions of the country. The history of this foundation, created in 1999, is quite incredible. First, it takes its name from being built on a former bird hospital. Converted into a school and abandoned for more than 10 years, the place falls into decrepitude. It is finally spotted later by a couple of Swiss, Susanna Biedermann and Max Alioth, who fell under the spell of the ocher city on a trip. Together, the couple decides to invest their fortune in this place to defend the Moroccan popular culture that contributes, according to him, to the “soul” of Marrakech.

The Dar Bellarj Foundation was born and there are regularly organized exhibitions and other cultural activities such as concerts, story readings, dance or theater performances, painting workshops … In recent years, we will keep the exhibitions dedicated “embroidery”, “stucco” or “achoura” that marked the House of Storks.

Even today, the foundation gives literacy classes to women from the medina of Marrakech and regularly runs workshops with them to raise their awareness of their heritage. Some even have the chance to go abroad. Children can also enjoy playful workshops such as dance, theater or caligraphy.

Beautifully restored by the Swiss couple with noble materials, the place itself is worth a look at Marrakech. Dar Bellarj has a large patio of 200m2, with a small fountain in the center, surrounded by 4 spacious rooms dedicated to exhibitions and a nice tea room where are sometimes held round tables and debates. We can even tell you that there is a cellar! It is sometimes arranged for exhibitions.

The Foundation is recognized in Marrakech as an authentic meeting place where Moroccans, tourists and residents can exchange, far from certain cultural events that finally host few locals.

The Dar Bellarj Foundation of Marrakech is open from Monday to Saturday from 9am to 5.30pm. During Ramadan, it is open from 9h to 15h. It is closed in August.

Source: http://vivre-marrakech.com

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LEILA ALAOUI – LES MAROCAINS

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Still a few days to admire the beauty of this exhibition! Yves Saint Laurent Museum of Marrakech announces its fourth temporary exhibition as a tribute to a Marrakesh artist who marked his time, the photographer Leila Alaoui.

Almost three years after the disappearance of the artist in the attacks of Ouagadougou, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum of Marrakech, in partnership with the Foundation Leila Alaoui, exposes the work of the Franco-Moroccan photographer in the city where she grew up, Marrakech .

From September 30, 2018 to February 5, 2019, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum of Marrakech presents the series “Moroccans”, one of the first photographic projects of Leila Alaoui. Thirty portraits, some unpublished, made between 2010 and 2014, across the Kingdom, which echo the cultural plurality of Morocco put in the spotlight at the Berber Museum Majorelle Garden.

✔ “Moroccans” by Leila Alaoui, or the epiphany of faces

About her series of portraits, Leila Alaoui explained: “Drawing on my own heritage, I have lived in various communities and used the filter of my native Moroccan birth position to reveal, in these portraits, the subjectivity of people I photographed. “

For 4 years, she travels the country with her mobile studio, to capture all the diversity of Morocco through faces, looks and costumes. Through this work, Leila Alaoui brings a strong pictorial dimension to her photos and thus perpetuates the age-old practice of portraiture. Like the great painters of the history of art, she adopts a neutral background – black – and assumes the frontality of her angle of view.

The garment, whether colorful or banal, makes the bodies forget, revealing a real epiphany of faces. The exhibition curator, Guillaume de Sardes – writer and photographer – can only point out that, from portraits to portraits, we mainly remember faces and looks that “accompany us a long time after the museum’s exit”.

For the first time, the Majorelle Garden Foundation has reserved free access to this temporary exhibition, in order to share with the greatest number, and especially with the Marrakchis and Moroccans, the look of Leila Alaoui on her fellow citizens.

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LE JARDIN DES ARTS

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Inaugurated in November 2016 during COP22, the Jardin des Arts brings together, in the heart of Guéliz, the sculptures of 22 Moroccan artists; all concerned by environmental issues. This new haven of greenery, located along the Avenue Mohamed V, was designed by the Moroccan artist Mahi Binebine and BDA agency including the three art collectors passionate Messrs Gael Barrazza, Abdelmalek Kadiri and Hassan Lahrizi . Together, they take the pretext of COP 22 to bring together 22 promising artists such as Hassan Hajjaj, Abdelrim Ouazzani or Yasmina Alaoui and make them work on this theme of the environment and ecology. The BDA agency explains the approach: “In the course of a discussion about the COP22, we wondered about the means that we could implement to support the commitment of Morocco in its fight against global warming, while bringing an artistic dimension. At the initiative of Mahi Binebine, we undertook the project of rehabilitating an abandoned garden to adorn it with monumental sculptures. “

Result? 22 militant and environmentally friendly works now adorn the famous boulevard Mohamed V. “These sculptures will remain there forever, it is a legacy for future generations”.

Inaugurated for COP 22, this colorful new park is located in the Bab Nkab garden, on Avenue Mohamed V. Feel free to visit during your stay in Marrakech … Especially at night! The lights are magic!

Free access

 

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JAMAA EL FNA SQUARE

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Think of it as live-action channel-surfing: everywhere you look in the Djemaa El Fna, Marrakesh’s main square, you’ll discover drama in progress. The hoopla and halqa (street theatre) has been non-stop here ever since this plaza was the site of public executions around AD 1050 – hence its name, which means ‘assembly of the dead’. By mid-morning the soundtrack of snake-charmer flutes has already begun, but the show doesn’t kick off until sunset when restaurants fire up their grills, cueing musicians to tune up their instruments. Unesco declared the Djemaa El Fna a ‘Masterpiece of World Heritage’ in 2001 for bringing urban legends and oral history to life nightly and although the storytellers who once performed here have since given way to acrobats, musical performers, and slapstick comedy acts, Djemaa’s nightly carnival continues to dazzle. Berber musicians strike up the music and Gnaoua troupes sing while henna tattoo artists beckon to passers by and water-sellers in fringed hats clang brass cups together, hoping to drive people to drink. This is a show you don’t want to miss and it’s a bargain too. Applause and a few  dirhams ensure an encore. The square’s many eclectic exhibitions are not without a darker side though; you are very likely to see monkeys, kept in cages throughout the day, led around on chains for entertainment, and some of the practices of the plaza’s snake charmers are ethically questionable, to say the least. While wandering around the Djemaa at any time of day stay alert to cars, motorbikes and horse-drawn-carriage traffic, which whiz around the perimeter of the plaza. Also be on guard against pickpockets and rogue gropers who are known to work the crowds particularly after sunset. To nab prime seats on makeshift stools (women and elders get preference) around musician circles, arrive early in the evening.

Source: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco/marrakesh

MARRAKECH E DINTORNI

DAR SI SAID – NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WEAVING AND CARPETS

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Located in the heart of the Medina of Marrakech, the National Museum of Weaving and Carpets Dar Si Said, is a true jewel of Arab Andalusian architecture of nineteenth Century. The residence was built following the order of Said Ben Moussa, Minister of War at that time of Sultan Moulay Abdel Aziz (1894-1908). With an area of 2800 m2, the museum has accumulated since its creation in 1930 a fund of diverse, rich rare and splendid collections and important material of Moroccan culture.

  • photo credit @youssefsafine_
  • photo credit @youssefsafine_
  • photo credit @youssefsafine_
  • photo credit @youssefsafine_
  • photo credit @moroccobyme
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MARRAKECH E DINTORNI

DAR EL BACHA – MUSEUM OF THE CONFLUENCES

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Dar El Bacha is located at the entrance of the Medina.. It is considered one of the most beautiful palaces of the city. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century by Thami El Glaoui (named Pacha of Marrakech by Sultan Moulay Youssef). In 2017, the Dar El Bacha Palace is transformed into the Museum of the Confluences. Rooms with columns covered with Zellij and chiselled stuccoes are laid around an arabian garden. The rest of the decoration is breathtaking: cedar doors worked by hand, ceilings painted with geometric and floral motifs. As you can see, Dar El Bacha is already a museum in itself!