Private Sightseeing Tour of Marrakech: Explore Top Landmarks by Car

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. While 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, therefore 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 was started after 1154 and the building was partially completed in September 1158, with the first prayers held in the mosque at that time. It was completed in the 1190s, although the reported completion dates vary between 1162, 1190 and 1199. The first mosque eventually deteriorated.

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.

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).