Friday, 8 October 2010

Jemaa El Fna Highlights


The Marrakech medina’s central square means “Assembly of the Dead”, a reference to a time when the heads of executed criminals would be displayed here on spikes. Although nothing as gruesome is on view today, the square is still populated with some extraordinary sights such as snake charmers, monkey trainers and colourfully-costumed water sellers. In spite of government efforts to sanitize Jemaa El Fna with neat paving and ornamental barrows, the place remains endearingly chaotic.



Top 10 Features:

  • Orange-Juice Stalls
  • Snake Charmers
  • Café de France
  • Tooth Pullers
  • Herbalists
  • Porters
  • Monkey Trainers
  • Calèches
  • Water Sellers
  • Fortune Tellers

Orange-Juice Stalls

The The first to appear on square every morning are these sellers of freshly-squeez­ed orange juice. They work in brightly painted iron barrows fringing the square. Dried fruit and nuts stall It is worth paying repeated visits at different times of the day, but in summer months the square goes uncharacteristically quiet during the hottest part of the afternoon. Argana and the Terrasses de l’Alhambra are good lunch spots and both offer upper terrace seating overlooking the square.


The heat makes the snakes unresponsive so the charmers work on tourists, cajoling them into draping the lethargic reptiles over their shoulders for a photograph.


There are several to sit and watch the incessant entertainment of the square over coffee but the raffish air of the Café de France (left) lends it an added appeal and is a favourite with tourists and locals alike.

ToothPullers

These self-proclaimed “dentists” sit behind wooden trays filled with loose teeth (below) ready to aid cash-poor locals with aching dentures.

Herbalists

These stand as testimony to the Moroccan belief in natural remedies. Compounds of ground roots, dried herbs and even desiccated animal parts are used for everything, from curing head colds to warding off the evil eye.


Porters

banned from crossing Jemaa El Fna, With cars access to many of the hotels in the surrounding alleys is provided by the ubiquitous porter (carroser), who carries your luggage on a wheeled barrow and transports it to your lodgings for a small tip.

Monkey Trainers

Small monkeys dressed in bright tunics are brought to the square by their keepers to caper and dance for tossed coins.

Calèches

Hop into one drawn carriages (below), parked along the square’s west side. For a fee – you may need to bargain down from the driver’s inflated price – you can take a circuit of the city walls, or almost anywhere you care to go.

An Unplanned Masterpiece

Jemaa El Fna is considered to be a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” according to the UNESCO. This is an international list that includes pieces of intangible culture such as song cycles, theatrical traditions and sacred spaces. Inclusion in the list is intended to raise awareness and preserve something unique and irreplaceable; Jemaa El Fna certainly qualifies.

Water Sellers 

Known by the locals as gerrab, the water sellers roam the square in colourful costume and tassel-fringed hats, ringing copper bells to announce their arrival (centre). The brass cups are meant exclusively for the Muslims while the white-metal cups are for the thirsty people from all other religions. For dining and shopping options in this area.

Fortune Tellers

Throughout the day, impossibly wrinkled, elderly women squat beneath umbrellas with packs of Tarot cards to hold forth on the fortunes of the people who drop by for a reading.