Marrakech Souks

MARRAKECH SOUKS

Visiting the Marrakech souk – where the city's goods and merchandise markets are located – gives you a feel for the skill and culture of Moroccan craftwork. It might also make you an expert haggler. But as well as the bustling market streets, you'll see some of the finest, and oldest, architecture in the country.

By Andrea Kirby and Jacques Combeau

Best leatherwork! Made by my family a hundred years!  Cheapest in Marrakech! Make me an offer!

You probably won't get hustled or hassled in the Marrakech souk – local traders have found it doesn't pay - but once you've entered one of the shops, you'll find they're expert negotiators with a fine line in florid sales patter (it's sometimes so ornate that is practically becomes a kind of poetry). You'll need an iron will and a lot of self-discipline to leave without a purchase – even if you've only come to window-shop. But with prices as low as three pounds for a nicely made leather belt, you needn't be worried that you'll break the bank. Besides, remember that the price you're first quoted is at least double what you're expected to pay.

             'you'll soon have to choose between copperwork,
                     carpentry, and dyeing, on the left,
or jewellery and leatherwork on the right'

Marrakech doesn't have a single, compact souk – the whole northern part of the old city is made up of overlapping souks, each devoted to a different trade. Heading north from Djemaa el Fna, up rue Souq as-Smarine, you'll soon have to choose between copperwork, carpentry, and dyeing, on the left, or jewellery and leatherwork on the right.

Start off in Rahba Kedima, the former slave market, and the Criée Berbère market. No slaves for sale here these days – instead, you'll find carpets, sheepskins, and the rough brown hooded djellabas that many Moroccan men still wear.  (Or raffia bags and woolly hats if you prefer tourist tat.)  Here, too, you'll find heaps of spices laid out on the ground, cosmetics stalls, and 'magic' ingredients for making potions or charming the djinns (spirits) that live everywhere in Morocco.

 
    'delicate pinks and dark bruised purple of olives,
              to lurid blues and yellows '

Head further into the souk and you'll find craft workshops scattered among the shops. Venture away from the main streets, into the labyrinth of alleys and courtyards, and you can peer in at silversmiths, woodcarvers, or cobblers at work. In the dyers' souk, strips of cloth hang above your head, the rich colours filtering the sunlight into the narrow alleys. The souk is full of colour – from the delicate pinks and dark bruised purple of olives, to the lurid blues and yellows of pointy babouche slippers.

This isn't shopping high-street-style, with a list of items to be ticked off, and a tight budget. Instead, the souk shows you shopping as theatre, shopping as a voyage of discovery; take all day to wander, pursuing whatever alleyway looks enticing, entering whatever shop takes your interest. Getting lost is all part of the plan (head for the two main streets, though, and you'll easily find your way back to Djemaa el Fna; you don't need a guide, and you'll be perfectly safe).

But there's far more to the souk than shopping.  Keep heading north and you'll find one of Marrakech's monuments – the Ali ben Youssef mosque and medersa. Like most mosques in Morocco, this one is closed to non-Muslims, but the attached medersa, or university, is open to visitors. It's lovely merinid work of 1565  - the most delicate period of Moroccan architecture, intricate plaster work and fine zellij glazed tiles.   The tiny courtyards housed up to 900 students – bigger than the largest of the Oxford or Cambridge colleges, even today.

          
            'the decoration is profuse, with scallop shells,
   pine cones, palm branches and acanthus leaves,
                  the plasterwork undercut to create
           patterns of light and shade'

Not far from here is a real rarity – the Almoravid qubba, the only building from the time of  Almoravid rule in the twelfth century left intact in the whole of the country. This tiny, elegant building, with its zigzag battlements and arcaded dome, is austere outside -  but, as so often in Islamic culture, an unassuming outside hides a luxurious interior.  The decoration is profuse, with scallop shells, pine cones, palm branches and acanthus leaves, the plasterwork undercut to create patterns of light and shade.

The qubba and medersa give you just a few moments of shade and relative quiet; then it's back to the thronged streets of the souk.

To western eyes, used to the straight High Street or the central Market Square, the souk looks like a chaotic maze. In fact, though, every souk has a definite plan. Near the main mosque you'll find the learned trades – booksellers, scribes, bookbinders. Next come the  fine crafts – leatherwork, textiles, jewellers, and the spice traders too. Further out still, you come to the noisy trades – the tinkers, carpenters, blacksmiths; you'll hear them before you see them.

And finally, right at the edge of the souk, are the dirty trades –  fulling and tanning. Huge vats of stinking liquid, whole animal skins slopping around, lurid dyes, all make a potent assault on the senses; there's no shelter here from the burning sun, and the tanners work half-naked, often drenched. It's a horrifying vision – far from the elegant babouches and handbags on sale in the leatherworkers' souk – but it's something you will never forget.
 

FACT FILE

Souk hours

The first shops in the souk open up as early as 630 in the morning. Most close around 6.30-7pm, though some remain open till 8. Early morning and later evening can be good times for a more leisurely wander through the souk – and you may get a bargain if you're the last customer of the day. Many stalls are closed for at least part of Friday.

Ben Youssef Medersa

The medersa is usually open all day, 9-6, with a small admission fee.

Almoravid Qubba

The qubba can be visited on application to the guardian, who will expect a small admission charge to be paid.

Tanneries

The best time to visit the tanneries is in the morning, when you'll see the tanners at work. Ideally, aim to get to the tanneries by 10 am, while the sun is still relatively low and before it gets too hot (and stinky).

What to buy

Babouches, little pointy slippers, are popular; leather purses, bags and belts are also good buys. Ceramics include tagines, but don't overlook the gsaa, a wooden or earthenware kneading bowl for breadmaking. Depending on your taste, you may find brightly coloured fabics a temptation, or prefer the natural brown stripes of the traditional djellaba. Finally, look out for hand-made soap - a few bars of soap can easily be stowed away in your suitcase, and will evoke the smells and sensations of the souk once you're back home.