Djemaa el Fnahttp://www.marrakech.uk.com/#/marrakech/4532621655 (
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
:
جامع الفناء jâmiʻ al-fanâʼ) is a square and
market placeMarket Place is the financial programme broadcast Monday to Friday at 10:30pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl....
in Marrakesh's
medina quarterA medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like streets, and was built by Arabs as far back as the 9th century CE. The word "medina" itself simply means "city" or "town" in modern day...
(old city). The origin of its name remains unknown: it means
Assembly of the dead in Arabic, but as the word
djemaa also means
mosque in Arabic, it could also mean
place of the vanished mosque, in reference to a destroyed
AlmoravidThe Almoravids are a Berber dynasty of Sahara, which lived between the current Senegal and south of the current Morocco It is affiliated to the Berber tribe of Sanhadja and Lemtuna...
mosque.
The place remains the main square of
Marrakesh, used equally by locals and tourists.
Djemaa el Fnahttp://www.marrakech.uk.com/#/marrakech/4532621655 (
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
:
جامع الفناء jâmiʻ al-fanâʼ) is a square and
market placeMarket Place is the financial programme broadcast Monday to Friday at 10:30pm in Hong Kong by television channel TVB Pearl....
in Marrakesh's
medina quarterA medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like streets, and was built by Arabs as far back as the 9th century CE. The word "medina" itself simply means "city" or "town" in modern day...
(old city). The origin of its name remains unknown: it means
Assembly of the dead in Arabic, but as the word
djemaa also means
mosque in Arabic, it could also mean
place of the vanished mosque, in reference to a destroyed
AlmoravidThe Almoravids are a Berber dynasty of Sahara, which lived between the current Senegal and south of the current Morocco It is affiliated to the Berber tribe of Sanhadja and Lemtuna...
mosque.
The place remains the main square of
Marrakesh, used equally by locals and tourists. During the day it is predominantly occupied by
orange juiceOrange juice is a popular breakfast beverage made from the extraction of liquid from fresh oranges. The term "orange juice" is also used, both colloquially and commercially, to refer to "concentrated orange juice"....
stalls, youths with chained Barbary apes, water sellers in colourful costumes with traditional leather water-bags and brass cups, and
snake charmerSnake Charmer can mean:*Snake charming, the practice of "hypnotizing" snakes*Snake Charmer, a 1983 album by guitarist The Edge, bassist Jah Wobble, multi-instrumentalist Holger Czukay, drummer Jaki Liebezeit, and DJ/remixer François Kevorkian...
s who will pose for photographs for tourists. As the day progresses the entertainments on offer change: the snake charmers depart, and in the afternoon and evening the square becomes more crowded, with
ChleuhThe Chleuh people are a Berber ethnic group. They live mainly in Morocco's Atlas Mountains and Souss Valley. The Chleuh population is estimated to be approximately 10,000,000.They speak the Tashelhiyt language in several regional varieties...
dancing-boys (it would be against custom for girls to provide such an entertainment), story-tellers (telling their tales in Berber or Arabic, to an audience of appreciative locals), magicians, and peddlers of traditional medicines. As dark descends the square fills with dozens of food-stalls, and the crowds are at their height.
The square is edged along one side by the Marrakesh
soukA souq is a commercial quarter in an Arab or Berber city. The term is often used to designate the market in any Arabized or Muslim city...
, the traditional North African markets which service both the common daily needs of the people of the city, and the tourist trade. On other sides are cafe terraces to escape from the noise and confusion down in the square, and on yet other sides are hotels and gardens. Narrow streets lead into the alleys of the
medina quarterA medina quarter is a distinct city section found in many North African cities. The medina is typically walled, contains many narrow and maze-like streets, and was built by Arabs as far back as the 9th century CE. The word "medina" itself simply means "city" or "town" in modern day...
, the old city. The photograph illustrating this article shows the entrance to the souk at the left, cafes in the centre, and the entrance to the medina via the Street of the Olive (derb al zitoun) on the right.
Once a bus station, the place was closed to traffic in the early 2000s. The authorities are well aware of its importance to the tourist trade, and a strong but discreet police presence ensures the safety of visitors.
The award-winning documentary "Morocco: The Past and Present of Djemma el Fna" features the storytellers, musicians, acrobats and snake charmers of this celebrated crossroads of Arab and Berber cultures, with historical commentary provided by the noted Moroccan scholar Hamid Triki.
See also
- Marrakech Medina
- Juan Goytisolo
Juan Goytisolo is a Spanish poet, essayist, and novelist. He currently lives in a voluntary self-exile in Marrakech.-Background:Juan Goytisolo was born to an aristocratic family...
lives in Marrakesh and has had an important role in the categorisation of Djemaa el Fna as a Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of HumanityThe Proclamation of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity was made by the Director-General of UNESCO starting in 2001 to raise awareness on intangible cultural heritage and spur the local communities to protect them and the local actors who sustain these forms of cultural...
Miscellaneous
- The square was featured in the Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British filmmaker and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
movie The Man Who Knew Too MuchThe Man Who Knew Too Much is a suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Doris Day. The film is a remake in widescreen VistaVision and Technicolor of Hitchcock's 1934 film of the same name....
(1956).
- An interesting account of the place in the 1970s can be seen in Esther Freud
Esther Freud is a British novelist. Born in London, she is the daughter of painter Lucian Freud and Bernadine Coverley and is the great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud.-Biography:...
's novel Hideous KinkyHideous Kinky is an autobiographical novel by Esther Freud, daughter of British painter Lucian Freud, and great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud. In 1998 a film adaptation was produced. It depicts her hippy childhood in Morocco with her elder sister Bella.-Plot summary:A young mother and her two...
.
External links