El Baroudiyine

The historic El Baroudiyine district is located in the centre of the Marrakech medina at the northern edge of the Souks which lead down to the Jema al Fna.

The area contains some of the most important Islamic buildings in the Medina all located around the open ‘Place de la kisaria’.

Ben Youssef Medersa MarrakechTo the north, built in the twelth centry by an Almoravid Sultan of the same name, is the Ben Youssef Mosque, the largest mosque in the medina. The Ben Youssef serves the community of the central medina and is approaching the end of a comprehensive renovation during which many of the locals have prayed at home. In common with most other mosques in morocco it is not open to non muslims.

 

Open to the public

Adjacent to the mosque is the Ben Youssef Medersa , considered by some the finest building in the city after the Koutoubia Minaret. The Medersa is a Koranic school and is usually open to the public from 9am to 6 pm allowing visitors to appreciate its richly decorated sixteenth century interior.

On east side of Place de la Kisaria is the renowned Musee de Marrakech (Marrakesh Museum) which occupies a stunning palace built by Mehdi Mnebhi a nineteenth century government minister and restored in the 1990’s by Omar Benjelloun. The museum shows an important collection of Moroccan art and sculpture open from 9 am to 7 pm. It also hosts an exciting programme of contemporary exhibitions.

Koubba El Baroudiyine

In the midst of all this culture and history the area actually takes its name from its oldest monument of all. Marrakech’s only remaining example of a complete building from the 11th century Almoravid dynasty, the Koubba El Baroudiyine. At first sight a modest structure the Koubba is of huge architectural significance containing in its simple design many of the arches shapes and decorations on which centuries of Islamic buildings have been based. It is normally open from 9am to 1pm and 2.30 to 6 pm.

Riad hotel, Marrakesh

Riad Cinnamon is located on the quiet Derb El Hajra off the Rue Baroudiyine to the east of the Ben Yousef Mosque in the heart of the Baroudiyine distirct. The luxury Riad hotel is only two hundred metres from the Place de Kisaria and is the perfect base from which to explore this extraordinary area.