The Seven Saints of Marrakech: the Pilgrimage, the Tombs and What You Can Visit

Updated on October 8, 2026

The Seven Saints (Sebaatou Rijal) are seven scholars and Sufi masters whose tombs, scattered across the medina and its gates, form a seven-day pilgrimage, the ziyara, established in the late 17th century by the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail. Most of these men had not lived in Marrakech: their remains were gathered there to make the city a place of pilgrimage. Each tomb is housed in a zawiya, a shrine that remains an active place of worship. For travellers, it is above all a key to reading the city: the saints' names appear everywhere, from Cadi Ayyad University to the medina gates. Non-Muslims generally cannot enter the mausoleums, but you can walk past several of them on a stroll.

Highlights

Sidi Bel Abbès, the patron saint

Died in 1204, Abu al-Abbas as-Sabti is the most revered of the seven and the city's patron saint. His zawiya, in the north of the medina, is the only one whose courtyard is easy to visit: see our page Zawiya of Sidi Bel Abbès.

The green roof of the mausoleum

The funerary hall of Sidi Bel Abbès, topped with green tiles, can be spotted from afar above the medina rooftops and is a handy landmark in the north.

The seven saints and their tombs

In pilgrimage order: Sidi Youssef ben Ali (died 1196), outside Bab Aghmat, southeast; Cadi Ayyad (1149), near Bab Aylan, west; Sidi Bel Abbès (1204), north of the medina; Sidi Ben Slimane al-Jazouli (1465), south of the previous zawiya; Sidi Abdelaziz at-Tebaa (1508), near the Mouassine Mosque; Sidi Abdallah al-Ghazouani (1528), northwest of Jemaa el-Fna; and Sidi es-Souhaili (1185), in the cemetery near Bab Er-Rob, southwest. Sources sometimes give different transcriptions of these names.

The pilgrimage today

The ziyara lasts seven days, from Tuesday to Monday, following a circle around the city. It is less widely followed than it once was, but the tombs remain places of daily prayer. A commemorative monument was erected near Bab Doukkala in 2005.

Practical info

Tips

Zawiyas are places of worship: cover shoulders and knees, keep your voice low, and do not photograph worshippers. Access to the mausoleums is reserved for Muslims; expect no ticket office or visiting hours, and do not follow a stranger who offers to "open" a door. No admission fees apply: access to outer courtyards, where it exists, is free (seen in October 2026 for Sidi Bel Abbès). For anything else, ask your accommodation. Link them into a walk rather than hunting them one by one: Sidi Abdelaziz's zawiya is near the Mouassine Museum, Sidi Bel Abbès's near the north of the medina.

How to get there

The tombs are scattered across the medina and its gates. On foot from Jemaa el-Fna: about 25 minutes to Sidi Bel Abbès through the souks; Sidi Abdelaziz and Sidi Abdallah al-Ghazouani are about ten minutes from the square. Cadi Ayyad, Sidi Youssef ben Ali and Sidi es-Souhaili are near the city gates: take a petit taxi. Also read Mosques and places of worship in Marrakech.