Jemaa el-Fna Museum of Intangible Heritage: opening hours, tickets and visit

Updated on October 1, 2026

The Museum of Intangible Heritage, which the National Museums Foundation (Fondation nationale des musées) calls "Jamaâ el-Fna, Museum of Intangible Heritage", occupies the former Bank al-Maghrib headquarters on the south side of Jemaa el-Fna square. Built in 1922 by the architects Auguste Cadet and Edmond Brion to house the first branch of the State Bank of Morocco, renamed Bank al-Maghrib in 1959, the building was restored from December 2020 and opened to the public in February 2023. It is the first museum in Morocco devoted to intangible heritage. It tells the story of the square within the city and highlights the halqa, the circles of onlookers that form around storytellers, musicians, acrobats and other street performers, an art that led UNESCO to proclaim Jemaa el-Fna a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001. It is a useful visit before spending the evening on the square, to better understand what you will see there.

Highlights

The great hall of the former bank

The building's central hall has kept its carved wooden dome and its ring of high stained-glass windows. The 1922 building was designed to blend in with the architecture of the square, with an arcaded façade between two symmetrical wings.

The history of the square

One section traces the history of Marrakech and Jemaa el-Fna, from a marketplace in front of the Almoravid fortress to a great open-air stage. This aerial view, taken around 1930 by the Swiss aviator Walter Mittelholzer, shows the square a few years after the bank was built.

The halqa and the hlaiqis

The heart of the museum presents the hlaiqis, the performers of the halqa, with their skills and trades: storytellers, Gnawa musicians, water sellers (guerrabs) in red costume. Part of the exhibition is also devoted to the craft trades linked to the square.

The square through artists' eyes

The exhibition shows how painting, theatre, cinema and photography have portrayed Jemaa el-Fna. You will see two canvases by Jacques Majorelle depicting scenes of daily life, works by Moroccan painters and, as a tribute to the building's former occupant, a numismatic section devoted to Bank al-Maghrib.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Admission costs 40 DH for foreign visitors, 20 DH for Moroccan adults and residents, and 10 DH for under-18s and students (prices checked in October 2026 on the National Museums Foundation website). The exhibition relies mostly on objects, photographs and texts: to hear the storytellers and musicians, stay on the square afterwards, as it comes alive from late afternoon. The museum closes at 6pm: visit it in mid-afternoon, then step straight out into the evening halqa.

How to get there

Rue Ibn Marine, Jemaa el-Fna square, Marrakech medina, on the south side of the square. The square is pedestrianised: petits taxis drop you at its edge, on the Koutoubia or Avenue Mohammed V side, a few minutes' walk away. Several city bus lines, including line 19 from Marrakech-Menara airport, serve the area around the square.