The Moroccan Medina

The ramparts of a 1,000 years ago are alive and well all over Morocco.  It is breath
taking to see them literally everywhere. 
Pictured here are the ramparts of Fes and Merakkesh.

It was the Almoravid sultan Ali ben Youssef who gave Marrakech its famous surrounding walls in 1132. Enlarged during the reign of the Almohads, then by the Saadians, these 19 km of fortifications enveloping the city are flanked by 202 square towers and endowed with nine gates. They are made of adobe, in warm colors ranging from pink to red depending on the light.  Certain sections have been well preserved, particularly near the "Hivernage", a masterly row of bastions that stretch out for nearly 1,300m without a breach and continue beyond Bab Doukkala.

Inside these fortifications lies the medina.  A medina is the old part of a town or city, found in many countries of North Africa, not just Morocco. It is typically walled, and contains narrow streets, fountains, palaces and mosques. Many medinas are car-free as there is not enough space in the alleyways for cars to pass. The word "medina" means city or town in modern-day Arabic.  Many of them have such narrow streets that motor vehicles, even scooters, are not permitted.  The first word we learned as tourists entering the medina is the word 'Balack', which means that a cart or a donkey laden with supplies is coming through and you are to immediately hug the wall or risk being bowled over.

The medinas have both commerce and residential living, and are great fun to walk through.  Some are organized by products sold and some are not, but the level of activity is astounding--and the majority of it is not from the tourists but from the natives.  The hardest part is to know where you are at any given time, and if you go with a group, stick together or you might never meet up again until back at your hotel room.