Mansour Eddahbi - Luxury hotel - Experience essential al bahja

The Majorelle Garden

Former workshop of painter, Jacques Majorelle, then the home of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, the marvelous Majorelle Garden is Morocco’s most-visited cultural site. It is a unique invitation to discover an exquisite collection of plants from all over the world. The site also houses the beautiful Berber Art Museum and a craft shop with carefully curated items. 

Art Galleries and Cultural Venues

There are a plethora of galleries and cultural venues around Marrakech. These locations showcase lots of artists from Morocco and around the world, as well as exciting elements of Moroccan and Marrakech culture, which will satisfy aficionados, collectors, and curiosity-seekers. Such locales include: the Voice Gallery, BCK Art Gallery, the Matisse Art Gallery, MACAAL, the Farid Belkahia Foundation, Maison de la Photographie, Comptoir des Mines Galerie, Gallery 127, the David Bloch Gallery, Galerie & Co by Bruno, the Dar Bellarj Foundation, MACMA, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Bahia Palace and its museum, and the Marrakech Museum. 

Houariyat

No family celebration is complete without them. These ladies are the Houariyat: an iconic ensemble of artists from Marrakech who sing to the rhythm of their drums (bendir, tâarija, darbouka). 

The Houariyat are organized into groups, each led by a Raissa. They perform the traditional Houara music from the Souss region, as well as the Chaabi. The Houariyat’s strong and well-trained vocals alternate or merge with the beat of their instruments, in halting or steady rhythms that are almost trance-like. The singers interact with one other, take turns on lead vocals, or come together to sing about love, the beauty of their city, the trivial day-to-day, or more serious social issues. However, they always do so with joy and fun. Because the Houariyat celebrate life.

Spices

Marrakech and its bahja are also synonymous with spices of extraordinary colors and sublime fragrances. It is pure pleasure with several steps. First, you need to buy the spices. The market in Rahba Lakdima Square in the heart of Medina is particularly rich and varied. There, spice sellers and herbalists are in abundance. There are also stalls selling wooden utensils, straw hats, and baskets. Another famous spice market is in Qzadria (Tinsmith) Square, where colorful cones mark out the trail of shops and stalls. Then head for home, untie the various little packets, and rediscover the familiar aromas in the privacy of your kitchen, with the promise of delicious meals.