Welcome to La Cometa Travel
Today we're in Marrakesh, here in Morocco
Marrakesh is one of the four imperial cities here
That means it's one of the four historic capitals
The other three are Fez, Meknes, and Rabat, the capital now
Marrakesh is such an important city that up until the 20th century the country was called the Kingdom of Marrakesh
And the city is nicknamed The Red City
With all the buildings you can see here I don't think I need to explain why
But every building here in the historic center. Literally every building, is red
And the plaza you can see here is Plaza Jemaa el-Fna
Right now in the morning it doesn't look that interesting
But in the afternoon and the evening this place is totally crazy
If you come later in the day you will find it full of restaurants
Some of which only sell escargot
There are people selling teeth
There are musical groups
There are snake charmers
There are monkeys, but it's kind of sad
Because during the day you can see them in cages here in the plaza
There are games, its, its, just...
It's a totally different place than what you can see now
It's the most interesting plaza I've ever seen
Usually when you think of a nice plaza it's for its architectural style
This doesn't have any special architecture
This plaza stands out because of its people
If you come to Marrakesh the number one thing you have to do, you just can't miss...
Is to come here in the late afternoon and evening and watch the spectacle
Here we can see the oldest building in the city
The ruins of the oldest building in the city
It was a mosque built by the Almoravids, the founders of Marrakesh
But then another empire came, the Almohads
They were also Muslim but they wanted their own mosque
So they destroyed this one and built La Koutoubia right here next door
We have something pretty great right here, it's a green mosque
They installed solar panels and now it doesn't have any emissions
So... this mosque is saving the world
- This one free American
No, thats... ....OK
American very good
Oh, she can't have it... she can't have bread... gluten free
American very good
Some parts of the historic center are only about 200 years old
And there are modern streets with cars
But there are other parts, like here, that I call the historic, historic center
Where there are only narrow alleys that are just for pedestrians
Or motorcycles, bicycles, and sometimes a donkey
If you come here it is like a giant labyrinth and it's impossible not to get lost
But that's just part of the fun here in Marrakesh
The small
- Small? Over here
Now we're going to try some food here in Marrakesh
So, I've only really seen escargot in fancy French restaurants
But here they sell them in the street
So... uhh... I've got to try it
And look, it's literally a mountain of snails
I don't know where they get them all from
It looks like they use toothpicks to eat them
Oh yeah
It's, it's really... it's better than a fancy French restaurant
If you come here you have to try it, it's really good
Now we're going to one of the gates to the entrance of the medina
When you are in northern Africa the center of a city is always called the medina
There's a little work going on here
Pretty big gate here
Not really direct
Once we get out here we'll have a good view of the city walls
You can see it there in the distance and the walls here are pretty impressive
They cover a distance of about 12.5 miles and it sounds incredible, but they are completely intact
Everything inside the walls is the medina, or the historic center
Think about that, 12.5 miles of walls
It's amazing, because I've been to cities where the historic center is just like two or three blocks, no more
But 12.5 miles? That's a massive historic center
There are many sites you can't miss when you are in Marrakesh
One of them is the Bahia Palace
It isn't very old, it was built in the 19th century but it is huge and stunning
It wasn't even for the king, it for a minister of the king
You also have to visit the Saadian Tombs
These tombs are for the Saadian Dynasty from the 16th century
They standout with their decoration of zellige
A type of mosaic tile that is typical here in Morocco
Another place to visit is El Badi Palace
This was the palace of the kings of the Saadian Dynasty
This is different from the Bahia Palace because it is in ruins and doesn't have a lot of its original decoration left
But it is still worth visiting
And after exploring the city you can relax in a hamman, or Turkish bath
Something that the locals here do once a week!
La Koutoubia is really important... look at it
It looks familiar, right?
If you've been to Seville, Spain then you've already seen this tower
Because La Giralda, the tower of the cathedral took inspiration from this one
They are basically the medieval twin towers
Unfortunately you can't visit mosques here
In some countries you can go inside and visit them but here in Morocco you can't
Well, there are maybe two or three in the country that you can visit
But unfortunately, they are really beautiful, but you can only see them from the outside
And that's all for today
I hope you enjoyed seeing a little bit of Marrakesh
One of the imperial cities of Morocco
Don't forget to like and share the video
And I'll see you next time from another part of the world