North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (15) "Red City" - Marrakech

North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (15) "Red City" - Marrakech Ait Benhaddou - Marrakech December 19, 2024 Sunny, 9-24°C After lunch, we drove for about 4 hours on the mountain road to the tenth stop - Marrakech. Marrakech, the fourth largest city in Morocco, one of the famous ancient capitals, and one of the four imperial cities, is known as the "Red City" because most of the buildings in the city have reddish warm-colored exterior walls. Visit the Bahia Palace in Marrakech and take a peek at the aristocratic mansion (Figure 1). Bahia Palace, one of the representative buildings of Moroccan mosaic craftsmanship and craftsmanship (Figure 2), was built in the 16th century and is one of the few well-preserved royal palaces in Morocco that is open to the public. The garden, courtyard, fountain, and sculpture (Figure 3) are all exquisitely designed (Figure 4), and the size of the rooms is designed according to the degree of favor of the king's wife, but each wife's room has an independent courtyard. The Jamaa el Fna and the old city market in Marrakech are world-famous tourist attractions. The streets of the old city market are narrow, with thousands of shops selling various handicrafts (Figure 5), including ceramics, wood products, iron products, leather products, and the most famous Moroccan slippers. Oil-burning motorcycles frequently shuttle back and forth in the alleys, and the air is filled with a strong smell of gasoline. We found a vacant seat on the upstairs balcony of a restaurant on the edge of Jamaa el Fna and observed the lively scene on the square from above (Figure 6). The entire square is occupied by various food stalls and kiosks, and some are setting up tents for the night market. In one corner of the square, there are street performances such as acrobatics, belly dancing, snake charming (Figure 7), and monkey shows. If it is at night, the whole square must be brightly lit and bustling. Koutoubia Mosque, 77 meters high, is a landmark building in Marrakech (Figure 8). The historical ruins of the imperial city of Marrakech (Figure 9). At 8 pm, we went to "Chez Ali" to enjoy roast lamb and watched a Berber equestrian show after dinner. It was almost 11:30 pm when we returned to the hotel, so we hurried to rest.