Marrakech

Marrakech is part of the group of Imperial Cities: this is the name given to cities that, at some point in their history, were capitals of the kingdom of Morocco or of a kingdom considered to be the precedent of what is now this state. And Marrakech joins Fez, Rabat and Meknes in this select group because it was the capital at the time of the Almoravid empire, which eventually conquered much of North Africa and southern Spain, but also with his successors Almohads and the Saadian dynasty.

It was the Almoravids who founded the city: in the middle of the 11th century they created a camp here, which was eventually endowed with walls and kasbah. In these early times, the most important figures were the warlord Abu Bekr, his nephew Yusuf Ibn Tasfin and his son Ali ibn Yusuf, but the city was greatly enriched by their successors. Artists and architects came here from Cordoba, the refined capital of the ancient Umayyad Caliphate, which had recently disintegrated. During this period, walls, subway irrigation canals, public buildings, a kasbah, etc. were built.

However, since 1121 Marrakech experienced the turbulent change of governors: the Almohads replaced the Almoravids, after a fierce conflict between the two factions. But when the situation calmed down, reconstruction works restored Marrakech to its splendor, with buildings that we can still admire today. These include the Kutubia mosque and a new kasbah. Some important names linked to this period were Abd el-Mumen, Abu Yacub Yusuf and Yacub al-Mansur. It was also a very culturally rich period, attracting personalities such as Averroes, who died here in 1198.

But the Almohad decline, caused in part by the defeats in the Iberian Peninsula (Battle of Navas de Tolosa in 1212), also caused the decline of its capital. That made that in the middle of the 13th century it was taken by the Merinids who dominated Fez, transferring to it the capital of the kingdom.

Marrakech then assumed a more secondary and even decadent role, at least until its conquest by the Saadid dynasty at the beginning of the 16th century. With this new lineage, the city regained its capital and also its splendor, being an important node of the caravan routes of the Sahara, especially in the time of Ahmed al-Mansur at the end of that century. And magnificent new palaces were built, including an imperial residence.

The successor dynasty, the Alaouite (currently on the throne), took the capital first to Meknes and then to Fez, so that it never returned to Marrakech. On the other hand, many of its monarchs did not renounce to spend long periods of time in this city and to invest in it in the form of large infrastructures and buildings, such as the Bahia Palace.

Already in the twentieth century, Marrakech, which was the victim of internal struggles for power, did not oppose too much to the arrival of French troops, leaving the Pasha of Marrakech, Thami El Glaoui, as a strong man in the region and ally of the French Protectorate, until the independence of the country was practically declared.

Today it is a city that lives largely from tourism and is at the forefront of this sector, with an increasing relevance of luxury and premium services, as we show you below.