Friday, December 3, 2010

Ben Youssef (November 28)

Started out a rather nice day off guiding my friends through the Souks of Marrakech, trying to reach the famous Quran school Ben Youssef. I don't know if you remembered but last time I tried to go there for a visit, I ended up making a direct U-turn by the entrance, it was l'Aïd El Ftar, or more know as the last day of Ramadan.
I have never been so afraid going through the Souks as that day, Everything was closed down, it felt like all of Marrakech was closed down.

This particular day, the Souks were once again closed down, but since I was in good company I felt much less alone and we walked along the empty narrow streets, in hopes of finding an open shop so my friends could do some of their holiday shopping.


This time though people would actually be out for a walk, not staying at home with family trying to eat as much as possible to make up for the Ramadan hunger.

Too our happy surprise the Quran school was open for visits and I finally got to see Ben Youssef myself. Having heard of it's magnificent wall inscriptions and beautiful carvings, I still got astonished by the overwhelming carved out roofs and the citations from the Quran carved out all along the walls and on every pillar.
The tiny "rooms" or prison cells I would prefer to call them, where the students were living during their student years. I was sorry not having brought an official guide to tell us more about it's history and art work.

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