A holiday in Marrakech is not complete without visiting these 2 jewels, the Dar M’Nebhi Palace (also known as the Marrakech Museum) and the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa.
The entrance to Ali Ben Youssef Medersa.
The main inner courtyard of Dar M’Nebhi Palace (or Marrakech Museum), so royal and stunning filled with an abundance of geometric zellij tiles and stuccowork. The ceiling has this very light see-through material that when it is beautiful weather, the sun rays shines through the courtyard.
What I noticed that stand out with Moroccan art are the bright colours, the geometrical patterns in its tile work, and the keyhole inspired window-and-doorframes. Green and blue are predominant colours that give a soothing sanctuary to the senses. I personally love these colours.
Dar M’Nebhi Palace
The Dar M’Nebhi Palace is also popularly known as the Marrakech Museum. It is located up north the central souqs of Djemma el Fna. If you follow the main souq streets you will end up in Place Ben Youssef where the Ben Youssefl Mosque, the Medersa, the Koubba and the Museum are located.
Beautiful wall enclave and the girl seems to be enjoying her solace time with a book.
A cool nook with 2 excited kids who claimed this space to be their territory.
If you are around this area after tiresome and hot souq hunting, the café in the Marrakech Museum is the best place to gather your spirits with a nice cold drink. Believe it or not, this is the only civilized café in the area. But, if you are the ultimate challenged buccaneer of exotic travel experiences who need not worry about hygiene and next day diarrhea, then you might want to head and eyes off to those primitive local snack bars. Deep fried fish in oil, the whole lot with the head, seems to be the favourite delicacy of the locals. The smell is actually very inviting.
An elaborately designed window with me feeling like a princess, haha.
The Museum nowadays is used as an art gallery for exhibitions and host occasional concerts and theatrical events.
This is WOW. The gorgeous details are amazing. I stared at this piece of magnificent art for a looooong time and cannot help but admire it. It speaks to me; the colours, the patterns, the exotic allure… this might just inspire me to experiment an eclectic home project very soon, that is if laziness don’t struck me. Modern, minimalist art, so rightfully, I need to take a foto so I can carry on dreaming, hehe.
The palace museum is so inspiring. I loved the pretty nooks and enclaves where you can literally spend hours here reading a book, jotting down on your journal, watching people, and just letting time go by. The ambience is so relaxing and perhaps it has something to do with the colours and the design symmetry of the lines, but being here is like journeying into a different kind of spiritual world of art.
Ali Ben Youssef Medersa
Yours truly with Blondine. I think this is our favourite foto of us together. The striking Moroccan artwork in the background blends nicely with the colours of the tops we are wearing =)
Named after the Almoravid sultan (of the what we are familiar with, the Moorish Empire) who built Marrakech, the Ali Ben Youssef Medersa is once an Islamic (Koran) school and a dormitory founded during the 14th century and is considered to be the largest theological school in North Africa.
A window from one of the student dormitory cells looking down to the courtyard.
Open-air courtyard of the school, so pretty. When I walked in here I felt love, I was speechless. The architectural details, the stucco artwork, the carvings, and Arabic scripts on the walls are simply amazing! I can just imagine the patience, the hours, the days and weeks, maybe months and years that went into this.
I love taking pictures of other people – candid pictures I mean, and these 2 are part of my favourites.
Once upon a time there were about 900 students living here in the 130 dormitory rooms. Honestly, the rooms looked like small prison cells to me but done aesthetically. The courtyard itself boasts of majestic art with beautiful elaborate stucco decorations, carvings, and inscriptions in Arbic script. The pool in the middle patio gives a refreshing joie de vivre to the whole place. It is so breathtaking!
Looking down to one of the ground floor halls from the dormitory corridors in the second floor. The pillars, door details, ballustrades, and the geometrical patterns on the floor are beautiful representations of Moroccan-Arabic art.
Outside the medersa. You can see 2 women dressed in traditional kaftan… the woman on the far end is a street vendor in a semi-burka garb.
The school has been closed since the 1960’s and is now a museum and a historical site.
For 60 Dirhams, you have the entrance to the Museum, Medersa and the Koubba. All three are located in the Place Ben Youssef. Unfortunately, the Ben Youssef Mosque is forbidden to non-Muslims.
More fotos can be found here: Marrakech Museum and Ben Youssef Medersa
Travel Period: April 2009