MOSQUEexceeded’ reads the inscription over the entryway to the Ali ben Youssef Medersa, and after
almost six centuries, the blessing still works its charms on visitors. Founded in the 14th century
under the Merenids, this Quranic learning centre was once the largest in North Africa, and
remains among the most splendid.
Entry & Courtyard
Sight lines and spirits are lifted in the entry with carved Atlas cedar cupolas and mashrabiyya
(wooden-lattice screen) balconies. The medersa’s courtyard is a mind-boggling profusion of
Hispano-Moresque ornament: five-colour zellij (mosaic) walls; stucco archways, with Iraqi-style
Kufic letters ending in leaves; cedar windows with weather-worn carved vines; and a curved
mihrab (eastern-facing niche) of prized, milky-white Italian Carrara marble.
Student Quarters
The medersa is affiliated with nearby Ali ben Youssef Mosque Offline map Google map ( closed
to non-Muslims) , and once 900 students in 132 dorms studied religious and legal texts here.
Despite upgrades with its 19th-century renovation, the Ali ben Youssef Medersa gradually lost
students to its collegiate rival, the Medera Bou Inania in Fez, but the medersa still exudes
magnificent, studious calm.
Koutoubia Mosque
Offline map Google map ( cnr Rue el-Koutoubia & Ave Mohammed V; mosque & minaretclosed to non-Muslims, gardens 8am-8pm) Five times a day, one voice rises above the
Djemaa din in the adhan ( call to prayer): that’s the muezzin calling the faithful from atop the
Koutoubia Mosque minaret. After a few days in Marrakesh, even non-Muslim visitors
unconsciously respond to the adhan throughout the day: a flutter of eyelashes at the dawn call,
a surge of sudden purpose with the afternoon call, a calming breath when the evening call
arises.
Minaret
The Koutoubia serves a spiritual purpose, but its minaret is also a point of reference for
international architecture. The 12th-century 70m-high minaret is the prototype for Seville’s La
Giralda and Rabat’s Le Tour Hassan, and it’s a monumental cheat sheet of Moorish ornament:
scalloped keystone arches, jagged merlons (crenellations), and mathematically pleasing
proportions. The minaret was sheathed in Marrakshi pink plaster, but experts opted to preserve
its exposed stone in its 1990s restoration.
Mosque & Gardens
The mosque is off-limits to non-Muslims, but the recently refurbished gardens are fair game.
Excavations confirm a longstanding Marrakshi legend: the original mosque built by lax Almoravid
architects wasn’t properly aligned with Mecca, so the pious Almohads levelled it to build a
realigned one. When the present mosque and its minaret were finished by Almohad Sultan
Yacoub el-Mansour in the 12th century, 100 booksellers were clustered around its base –
hence the name, from kutubiyyin, or booksellers.