The fondouk is the old caravanserai of Maghreb cities: an enclosed building arranged around a central courtyard, where visiting merchants stayed with their animals and goods. On the ground floor, storerooms and stables opened onto the courtyard; upstairs, a gallery led to the travellers' rooms. Built along the main trading streets and near the city gates, the fondouks of Marrakech have origins going back to the Almoravid period; several of those still standing date from the Saadian era (16th-17th centuries). Some specialised in one product, such as salt, sugar, henna or spices; others housed a guild or a community from another region, like the fondouk of the people of Ouarzazate. From the 1960s onwards, many were turned into housing, shops or workshops. According to figures from the regional authorities (wilaya) published in 2019, the medina has 96 fondouks, a large share of which house craftsmen: leather workers, carpenters, weavers, marquetry makers, copper engravers and lantern makers.
Highlights
The restored Fondouk El Bacha
In the north of the medina, near rue Amesfah, this fondouk was fully restored between October 2018 and November 2019, as part of the programme to rehabilitate the tourist route linking Dar el-Bacha to place Ben Youssef. Its large paved courtyard is surrounded by two levels of brick arcades and wooden doors. The same programme restored the Sersar, Boukhabia, Kharbouch, Benchbaba, Tadlaoui and Mizane fondouks between 2020 and 2022.
The fondouks of rue Mouassine and rue Dar el-Bacha
The most accessible group stands around the junction of these two streets, near Le Jardin Secret and the Dar el-Bacha museum. Several fondouks, such as el-Amri and el-Mizane, let visitors into their courtyard, lined with shops and workshops on two levels: leather, paintings, handicrafts. Look up at the galleries: some have kept their carved wooden brackets and lintels.
Fondouk Sersar
Also on rue Mouassine, this fondouk with two storeys of galleries on pillars already housed craft workshops, and a few painters, before its restoration. The two Sersar fondouks, numbered 1 and 2, were restored in 2020 and 2021. The photo dates from 2015, before the works.
Fondouk Ouarzazi and Fondouk Kabbaj
On place Bab Fteuh, just north of Jemaa el-Fna square, Fondouk Ouarzazi, which once lodged people from Ouarzazate, houses clothing and souvenir shops and, upstairs, silver jewellery. Also near Jemaa el-Fna, Fondouk Kabbaj, about a century old, has been restored with traditional techniques (fired clay brick, lime, wooden floors and joinery) to house workshops, mainly leather work, and shops around its patio. The project by architect Rida Hbibi won an award at the Young Moroccan Architecture Awards.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Entry to the fondouks is free: no ticket is required. Craftsmen work there and some fondouks are also lived in: stay in the courtyard and open galleries, and always ask before photographing a person or a workshop. If a caretaker or shopkeeper shows you around, a small tip is customary, but nothing is compulsory. A sign at the entrance often gives the name of the fondouk and the programme under which it was restored. Eleven fondouks damaged by the earthquake of 8 September 2023, including Kebbaj, Mizane and Sersar, are covered by a new works programme led by the Al Omrane group: a door may therefore be closed for building work.
How to get there
Marrakech medina. Fondouks of rue Mouassine and rue Dar el-Bacha: about 10 minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna square, via Souk Semmarine then Souk Attarine towards Mouassine. Fondouk Ouarzazi: place Bab Fteuh, just north of Jemaa el-Fna square. Fondouk El Bacha and the fondouks of rue Amesfah: north of the Ben Youssef mosque, about 20 minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna square. The lanes are closed to cars: by taxi, get dropped near Jemaa el-Fna square.
Opening hours
Nearby
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