MUSEUMHISTORIC SITE(Offline map ) South of Bahia Palace is the historic home of Marrakesh’s Jewish community.
Most Jewish families moved away in the 1960s, but the mellah remains notable for tall
mudbrick homes along single-file streets and cross-alley gossip through wrought-iron mellah
balconies. Local guides may usher you into the local synagogue Offline map ( Rue Talmud
Torah; donation per person Dh20-30) , and the miaâra (Offline map Google map), or Jewish
cemetery, where the gatekeeper admits visitors paying respects to whitewashed tombs topped
with rocks for remembrance (Dh10 tip expected).
In this extremely impoverished neighbourhood, you can also be a support to the living: a new
Mellah cultural complex near Pl des Ferblantiers is underway (for info, contact Riad Ifoulki,
Click here ), with proceeds from the centre’s restaurant and shop supporting community
initiatives – look for donated silk cravats fashioned into adorable toy doves, with proceeds
aiding a local girls’ school. To get here, go east on Rue Riad Zitoun el-Jedid.
Maison Tiskiwin
Offline map Google map ( 0524 38 91 92; 8 Rue de la Bahia; www.tiskiwin.com; adult/child
Dh20/10; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2.30-6pm) Travel to Timbuktu and back again via Dutch
anthropologist Bert Flint’s art collection, displayed at Maison Tiskiwin. Each room represents a
caravan stop from the Sahara to Marrakesh with indigenous crafts, from Tuareg camel saddles
to High Atlas carpets. The accompanying text is often more eccentric than explanatory (an
example: ‘By modifying his pristine nakedness Man seeks to reveal his image of himself’) but
Tiskiwin’s well- travelled artefacts offer tantalising glimpses of Marrakesh’s trading-post past.
Mouassine Fountain
Offline map Google map ( Rue Sidi el-Yamani) The medina had 80 fountains at the start of the
20th century, and each neighbourhood had its own for water for cooking, public baths, orchards
and gardens. The Mouassine Fountain, near Rue el-Mouassine, is a prime example, with
carved wood details and continued use as a neighbourhood wool-drying area and gossip
source.
VILLE NOUVELLE
If the medina starts to wear down your nerves and shoe leather, escape to Guéliz for art
galleries around Rue Yougoslavie, fixed-price boutiques along Rue de la Liberté, and perennially
fashion-forward Jardin Majorelle, while most budget hotels, restaurants, cafes, galleries and
boutiques cluster around Ave Mohammed V. Along Ave el-Qadissia, you can make an evening
of it at Hivernage clubs. For a quick getaway 20 minutes from the city, try a cooking class,
hammam, pool day or overnight stay in the Palmeraie.
Count on a 30-minute walk from downtown ville nouvelle to Djemaa el-Fna. Since the blocks
are long and boring until you enter the medina, you might take a bus or taxi.