The drive to Marrakech from Casablanca, more than anything, is a test run for the 4x4. I spend a day buying dates, eggs, ‘danoon’ yogurt and bananas from the market, loading drums of water and petrol. I buy some plywood sheets, and get a mechanic to create vertical and horizontal compartments in the rear luggage space to both sort my luggage and keep things in place. The Arabic word for diesel is Maazout; and that for petrol is Mumtaz, which is perplexing till I think of the American term ‘Super’.

From assorted tourist guides:

"As eternal as the snows on the highest peaks, as impressive as the Atlas mountains, as steeped

in history as the palm trees are rooted in the Earth, Marrakech stands as the finishing touch to a

picture.

 

The mightiest kings fought for it, a line of dynasties inherited it, sages, craftsmen, architects,

painters and sculptors of all ages built magnificent palaces, mosques, gardens and Koranic

schools. Marrakech, the imperial city which, at the dawn of its history, gave Morocco its name.

 

The name ‘Marrakech’ would seem to be at the centre of considerable debate: the most

popular hypothesis holds that the name is derived from a local Berber word which means

‘sons of Kutch’. It is fascinating to speculate that this word might well link up with the Biblical

‘Kutch’, son of Sham son of Noah, ancestor of the Kutch people who lived in the upper Egypt,

Ethiopia and the southern Arabia. Other experts claim that the name comes from the Masmooda

tongue and means ‘Don't linger’, a warning to travelers who passed here since the place

was famous for the ambushes laid by highway robbers.

 

Times have changed since then: Marrakech is now the place where you want to stay and come

back to again and again ...

 

From its very conception, Marrakech has always been an ideal setting for a rural market, a

"souq" which allowed people from the mountains to come down and buy all they needed. It

should also be remembered that in the Maghreb, one of the oldest concepts of pacific conquest

was the notion of commercial protection: markets and souqs were placed under the

protection of a political or religious leader who guaranteed their safety from marauders. Such

places became kind of neutral ground where opponents and even enemies could meet without

risk.

 

The Berbers and the Arabs come together here, to mingle with the nomads and the mountain

people. Every imaginable commodity abounds, craftsmanship flourishes, and there are palaces,

hotels, restaurants, golf courses and a casino: Marrakech is the unchallenged capital of

Southern Morocco ...

 

For all the beauty gathered here in one thousand years, for the sheer joy of the senses, you

cannot miss Marrakech. Carts overflowing with oranges and roasted grains, women from the

Anti-Atlas coming to sell their baskets, storytellers, musicians, dancers, public scribes with

their black umbrellas, fortunetellers, potion vendors, healers and apothecaries all contribute

to the unreal spectacle that in Marrakech, is commonplace.

 

Then, as dusk approaches, the show men make way for the hot food stalls. One after another,

acetylene flames spring into life. And then, in the starry night, the moon comes out to play the

role it was designed for: to be the most magical of the thousand and one lanterns lighting up the

Djemaa el Fna square ...

 

Marrakech awakens just as it has done every morning for more than 800 years, with the same

inflected intonation, the call of the muezzin going out from the 70 metre high Koutoubia (2), the

spiritual beacon of Marrakech.

 

Sunrise over Marrakech. A multicolored crowd invades the winding streets of the medina.

Groups of men jostle towards the Ben Youssef mosque, nestling against the Medersa, the vast

and superb Koranic school founded by the Merinid sultan Abu al-Hassan (1331 - 1349) and

one of Marrakech's most remarkable monuments ...

 

The sun bathes Marrakech in light. Its rays show up the pink marble of the fountains, spread

across the tiled courtyards, are reflected and then bring warmth to the turquoise, greens and

whites of the mosaic, to finally be lost amidst the stucco of the Bahia Palace and the Dar Si

Sald, now a museum housing the finest masterpieces of Moroccan art. The legendary sun of

Marrakech adds a note of accentuated contrast to the imperious splendor of the Saadian

tombs. It illuminates the remains of the Badii Palace where a shimmering mirage may reveal the

wonder of the former glories to the dazzled visitor; the gold, the marble and the onyx which

were traded for their weight in sugar by the most celebrated Saadian ruler, Ahmed al-Mansour

(1578 - 1603.)

 

The sun sets over Marrakech. Then, against a sky blazing with evening fire bounded by the

eternal snows of the Atlas mountains, the perfect proportions of the Menara pavilion may be

contemplated, mirrored in the quiet, still waters that stand before it ...

 

Time has passed you by. In the copper souq perhaps, where the metal is worked by craftsmen

following age-old traditions, their faces set in profound concentration. Or perhaps it was in the

Laghzal souq, home of the wool merchants. Or in El Btana with its sheepskins. Or even in the

hubbub of the Zarbia souq, where carpets and caftans are sold to the highest bidder...

Outside the ochre-coloured ramparts, the rhythm is broken, the colors change. The sound of

the wind in the foliage, chirping birds, the heady odors of jasmine and honeysuckle and the

persistent perfume of the famous Marrakech roses. Here, nature is a haven of peace, beauty

and contemplation. No doubt it is grateful to man for having watered it since 1106 by means of

an ingenious system of collecting and channeling spring water. 13 000 hectors of vegetation,

180 000 palm trees, lie just outside the fort-like walls.

 

Seen from Marrakech, the vast, imposing mass of snow-capped mountains seems unreal and

unbelievable. And yet the splendor, the other-worldliness and imposing might of the constantly

changing Atlas landscape are only 20 kilometres away from town. Just head out SE from Marrakech,

through the Berber villages of Aghmat and Dar Caid. Follow the road bordered with

terraced gardens along Wadi Ourika until you reach Arhbalou. From there on, the choice is simply

limitless -- Bear right towards Djebel Oukaimeden (2,600 m), or else admire Setti Fatma and its

hundred-year- old walnut trees and dive into the invigorating coolness of its seven waterfalls.

Or possibly go on to Annameure, village of the At Oucheg tribe where you can hire a mule and

climb up as far as Djebel Yagour, center of Moroccan prehistory which boasts over 2,000 cave

paintings ...

 

To the South, another change of scene. 47 kms from Marrakech, on the road to Taroudant, in

the typically Berber village of Asni, people come to barter in the souq which is held every

Saturday. Towards Ouirgane, the landscape is reminiscent of American canyons. Magnificent

gorges lead to Imlil, a charming mountain hamlet. This is the starting point for hikes through

Toubkal national park: climbing to the summit (4165 m), North Africa's highest point or, at

3800 m, the Tazaghaght plateau, a stone strewn desert at such an altitude that it looks down

upon the clouds.

 

To the East of Marrakech, water water, everywhere! The Ouzoud Falls, where the water plunges

more than 100 metres. Wad I Mehasseur, spanned by the natural Imi-n-lfri bridge, the

"gateway to the abyss" in Berber, which cascades through vast rock formations to end in the

artificial Ait-Aadel lake surrounded by bare, red-coloured hills ...

 

Marrakech, Marrakech ....You are in another world. Where the smell of saffron, cumin, black

pepper, ginger, verbena, cloves and orange flower enchant the nostrils. Among sacks of almonds,

ground nuts and chick peas piled high like mountains, with baskets of dates, casks of olives and,

on the apothecaries’ shelves, pots of henna, gazelle, flasks of rose extract, jasmine, mint, khol,

pieces of amber and musk ...

 

Djemaa El Fna -

You will be struck by its elegance, by the impression that it radiates, by the colours and tones

that centuries have enriched, and the warm sunlight that makes the blocks of pink sandstone

even brighter.Certain people claim that the name comes from the words "Meeting of the Dead"

a chilling reminder of the heads of murderers and ill-doers which the Sultan had displayed from the

ramparts after their execution (3). We much prefer the translation "Court of Marvels" which is not

only poetic but so much more faithfully describes this astounding esplanade. But you can judge

for yourself.

 

At first light, shopkeepers start spreading out their wares on rush mats or even on the ground.

You will see the men who sell soup, shish-kebab on skewers and grilled sheep's head; you will

find the water vendor, trotting as usual and ringing his little bell, who will doubtless offer to pour

you a shining copper goblet of water from his goatskin holder and suggest you might like to

take a photograph of him and his traditional costume of which he is extremely proud.

 

The public scribe

will draw up a love letter, a certificate of divorce or a business letter; the apothecary will sell

the horn of a gazelle, the skull of a bird (both of which will ward off evil spirits).

The center of the square is taken up by the performers doing their acts in this open-air circus --

acrobats from the South offer balancing tricks and daring acrobatics.

 

Nearby, the snake charmer

opens his box or bag and takes out a handful of flat-headed reptiles; he bangs his drum, excites

them with his shouts, lets himself be bitten on the lips, cheeks or forehead until blood is drawn.

 

The storyteller

always sits on the same spot, surrounded by a crowd of eager listeners; he has no book but

depends entirely on his memory. Every day he picks up the story where he has left off the

previous day, and you can see for yourself how captive his audience is.

 

The fortune-teller

has a strictly female clientele to whom he reveals a rosy future.

 

The circle of onlookers form and disperse, but the biggest one is around the gnaouas,

dark-skinned dancers whose music is deafening and whose dances are frenzied, accompanied

as they are by drums and gargabus, long castanets made of metal which beat out the rhythms.

The Square becomes an open-air restaurant in which clusters of people gather round

open-fronted shops where sausages are being grilled and frying fish turn golden brown. Why

not sit down yourself?"

*

 

I am accosted by Mohammed as soon as I park and alight to survey the seedy façade of the Grand Hôtel du Tazi. He clambers on top of the 4x4 with agility and starts undoing the ropes that hold my baggage. Fearing outright robbery, I yell out loudly – but he squats on the roof and smiles reassuringly.

Al Andalus

In 711 the Berber Tarik, general and ‘slave’ of Musa bin Nusayr, invaded and rapidly conquered Visigothic Spain. The rock rearing its head on the Iberian side of the straits was named Djebel al-Tarik – Tarik’s mountain -- corrupted in the subsequent centuries to Gibraltar. Within seven years most of the peninsula was overrun; Spain, called al-Andalus by the Muslims, became one of the centers of Islamic power, and the caliphate of Cordoba reached a peak of glory in the tenth century. Andalus remained was at least partially under Muslim control until 1492, when Granada, the last outpost, was conquered by Ferdinand and Isabella.

Remember that I place myself in the front of this glorious charge which I exhort you to make. At the moment when the two armies meet hand to hand, you will see me, never doubt it, seeking out this Roderick, tyrant of his people, challenging him to combat, if God is willing. If I perish after this, I will have had at least the satisfaction of delivering you, and you will easily find among you an experienced hero, to whom you can confidently give the task of directing you. But should I fall before I reach to Roderick, redouble your ardor, force yourselves to the attack and achieve the conquest of this country, in depriving him of life. With him dead, his soldiers will no longer defy you."

Berber Kingdoms

In the twelfth century, another tribal confederation formed in the Atlas, destined to eclipse Almoravid power. This group, while Berber like the Almoravids, was more puritanical in orthodoxy, and considered the Almoravids lax in Islamic observance. Over thirty years of internecine war ending in 1160, the al-Muwahiddin -- people who proclaim One God -- or Almohads – slowly gained the upper hand, not only over all Muslim North Africa, but also over the Andalus. Almohad power, too, crumbled after a century – leaving in its ruins three satellite satrapies: Ifriqiyya (Tunisia and Libya) under the Hafsid dynasty, Algeria under the al-Wad, and Morocco under the Merenids – divisions which remain to this day and which served as prototypes for today’s nations. The rulers became Arabized and stopped thinking of themselves as Berber: the Wattasids succeeded the Merenids in the 15^th century, the Saadians ruled in the 16^th century, and the Alawites trom the 17^th century down to the present day.

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