Private Sightseeing Tour of Marrakech: Explore Top Landmarks by Car

When completed in 1158, the Koutoubia Mosque was Marrakech's most important Mosque and one of Islam followers' most significant places of worship.

Commissioned by Abd-al-Mu'min, the construction of the Koutoubia began in 1141. The highlights of the Mosque are the minaret that stands 226ft (69m) high, which is very similar to the Giralda (bell tower of the Seville Cathedral in Spain), and the colour of the temple, made of red stone, which is typical of the region.

Its name means Mosque of the Booksellers because of the numerous book stands that surrounded the Mosque when it was first built.

The city's highest point, the magnificent minaret, is nearly 70m (226ft) tall and towers over the city. The rest of the temple is 60m (197ft) wide and 90m (295ft) long.

Non-Muslims may not enter the Koutoubia Mosque or any other mosque in Marrakech. Visitors will have to see it from the outside. The Mosque's surroundings are always packed with people who visit the temple's gardens or nearby streets. It is easy to get to since it is opposite the city's main square, Jemaa el-Fna. 

The Almohads captured the city of Marrakech after the death of the Almoravid leader Ali ibn Yusuf in 1147. The Almohads wanted no trace of religious monuments built by the Almoravids, their bitter enemies, because they considered them heretics. Abd-al-Mu'min, who won the territory, was responsible for constructing the first Koutoubiya mosque on the grounds of Ali ibn Yusuf's former palace in the medina's southwest quarter. This first Mosque was built between 1147 and 1154 and completed in 1157. This first Mosque was rebuilt under the Almohad Caliph Yacoub El-Mansour because halfway through construction, the mihrab (prayer niche) was off-center and not oriented towards Mecca and underwent many changes until the end of the 12th century. When the Andalusians defeated the Almohad dynasty, the alignment problem was minor, as devotees could constantly adjust the direction when offering prayers in the hall. Still, the decision was made to build a new mosque next to the first structure. The first Mosque was completed while the second Mosque was under construction. The second Mosque was constructed identically to the first except for its orientation. The layout, architectural designs, inscriptions, dimensions, and materials used for construction were all the same. The plan and design of the minaret remained the same in both buildings. In the first Mosque, the orientation of the mihrab was 5 degrees out of alignment with the direction of Mecca; in the second Mosque, the orientation was 10 degrees, and therefore, it was further from Mecca than the first Mosque. These two structures were built during the reign of Abd al-Mu'min (reign 1130-1163). The second Mosque started after 1154, and the building was partially completed in September 1158, with the first prayers held in the Mosque then. It was completed in the 1190s, although the reported completion dates vary between 1162, 1190, and 1199. The first Mosque eventually deteriorated.

The beginnings of the construction of the Bahia Palace date back to the time of Minister Ahmed bin Musa, nicknamed “Ba Hammad”, during the reign of Sultan Abdulaziz. His father, Al-Hajib Al-Sultani, Haji Musa, was nicknamed “Al-Bukhari” because he was descended from the servants of Al-Bukhari who made up the army of the Alawite sultan Moulay Ismail. As for the name of the palace, it perpetuates the name of the minister’s wife, “Ba Hammad”. According to current tales, the “Bahia”, whose name is the palace, descended from the al-Rahmanah tribe, which borders the city of Marrakech, and who came from a family known for its knowledge, its glory and its power. The narrators mention that Bahia was moving from her father’s castle in the Rahamneh region to the family riad in the “Al-Qanariya” district in Marrakech, until the strong minister “Ba Ahmad” saw him while he was still in the prime of life, in the care of his father, Hajj Musa Al-Hajib, so he hired her to be “His life partner, the lady of his palates, the comfort of his wives, the head of his neighborhood, his service and his decency, ”says one of the narrators. And given the gravity of his affection for Bahia, Minister Ahmed bin Musa brought the most skilled craftsmen and craftsmen from the city of Fez to work in the palace for six consecutive years, but death died without seeing his palace embrace the Bahia in its most beautiful analysis. He died in 1890 before completing the construction of the palace.

Bab Agnaou is one of the nineteen gates of Marrakesh, Morocco. It was built in the 12th century in the time of the Almohad dynasty. While Bab er Robb was the official entrance to the city, Bab Agnaou gives entrance to the royal kasbah in the southern part of the medina of Marrakech

of Marrakech is a Friday Mosque originally built by the Almohad caliph Yaqub al-Mansour in 1185-1190 CE. It is located in the old kasbah of Marrakech, the citadel or royal district. Along with the Koutoubia Mosque, it is one of the most important historical mosques in Marrakech

Located next to the mosque of the Kasbah, the Saadian tombs are one of the only vestiges remaining from the Saadian dynasty which reigned on the golden age of Marrakech between 1524 to 1659. At the beginning of the 18th century, Sultan Moulay Ismaïl indeed decided to remove all traces of the magnificence of this dynasty by asking for the destruction of all the remaining vestiges. However, he did not dare to commit the sacrilege to destroy their graves and ordered that the entrance to the necropolis be walled up.

We suggest several excellent restaurants, and the customer has the freedom to choose. We can also deliver the customer to the restaurant he chooses or knows

The Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Marrakech is a museum dedicated to the fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent located in Marrakesh, Morocco

The Majorelle Garden is a two and half acre botanical garden and artist's landscape garden in Marrakech, Morocco. It was created by the French Orientalist artist, Jacques Majorelle over almost forty years, starting in 1923, and features a Cubist villa designed by the French architect, Paul Sinoir in the 1930s

There is nowhere in Morocco like Jemaa el Fna square – no place that so easily involves you and keeps you coming back for more. By day, most of the square is just a large open space, where a handful of snake charmers bewitch their cobras with flutes, medicine men (especially in the northeastern part of the place) display cures and Panacea, and pulling teeth, wielding fearsome tongs, offer to tear off the pain of the outside of the heads of people suffering from toothache, trays of extracts attesting molar their skills.

It is only in the afternoon that the square really happens. At dusk, as in France and Spain, people go out for a walk early evening (especially in Bab Agnaou street), and the place fills gradually until it becomes a fairytale carnival, acrobats, musicians and artists. Go down and you will soon be immersed in the ritual: wandering around, squatting in the circles of spectators, which gives a dirham or two as your contribution. If you want a respite, you can move on the roof terraces, like the Grand Balcony Café, for a view of the square, its storytellers and musicians, and the crowds who come to see them.

As a foreigner in Jemâa, you may feel something of an intruder. Most of the crowd are Moroccan of course (some foreigners, for example, will include storytellers’ tales), but tourists also make a significant contribution to both the atmosphere and the cash flow. Sometimes a storyteller or musician may take it upon you to participate or contribute generously to the end-of-show collection and, entering the show, it’s best to go bare-bones of the usual tourist outlines such as watches, money belts or too much money; pickpockets and crooks work (giving a “present” and demanding payment as it is an old scam to be wary of, ask tourists to change counterfeit euro coins is a more recent version) .

Tourist attractions include bottle hoop games, fortune tellers sitting under umbrellas with divination card packs ready and women with piping bags full of henna paste, ready to paint their hands, feet or arms with “tattoos” that will last up to three months, beware if synthetic “black henna”, which contains a toxic chemical; that red henna is natural (Café Henné guarantees to use only natural henna).

End of the tour at the train station or the customer's hotel