Things to do
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Agdal Basin
Beside the granaries, a long rectangular reservoir once fed the palace gardens and still holds water behind its stone edges. A path runs the full circuit, with benches under the trees along the sides. The basin is free to walk around and makes an easy pause after Heri es-Souani next door, best in the cooler hours before sunset.
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Bab Mansour
Green and white zellige, marble columns and interlaced relief cover the monumental gate that faces Place el-Hedim, completed in 1732 as the ceremonial entry to the royal city. It is free to see from the square at any hour. Late afternoon light falls full on the facade, and the cafe terraces opposite give a level view of it.
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Dar Jamai Museum
A nineteenth century vizier's palace on the edge of Place el-Hedim holds a museum of Moroccan arts, with carved cedar ceilings, a furnished reception room and an Andalusian garden of cypress and orange trees. Galleries show ceramics, embroidery, jewellery and woodwork from the region. The museum is ticketed and takes about an hour.
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Heri es-Souani
Vaulted storerooms and stables stretch for hundreds of metres south of the medina, built to hold grain and stable the sultan's horses, with thick walls and deep wells that kept the halls cool. A roofless forest of arches stands beyond the covered section. The site is ticketed and lies at the far end of the imperial quarter, a short taxi ride from Bab Mansour.
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Madrasa Bou Inania
Zellige, carved stucco and cedar surround a courtyard with a marble basin in this small Marinid madrasa at the heart of the medina. Student cells on the upper floor lead to a roof terrace that looks over the green tiles of the Grand Mosque next door. Non-Muslim visitors are admitted on a ticket, and the visit takes half an hour.
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Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail
Tiled courtyards and ablution fountains lead to the tomb of the sultan who built the royal city. Non-Muslim visitors may enter the outer rooms and look into the tomb chamber from a doorway. Dress covering shoulders and knees is expected, access can close at prayer times, and a small donation at the door is customary.
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Moulay Idriss Petite Terrasse
Above the shrine, a small platform looks down on the green roofs of the zawiya and the white houses spilling down both hills. Steps and lanes climb to it from the main square in about fifteen minutes. Boys often offer to show the way and expect a tip. From the top, Volubilis shows on the plain to the northwest on a clear day.
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Place el-Hedim
A wide paved square between the medina and the royal quarter, Place el-Hedim fills toward evening with food stalls, musicians and storytellers. A covered market on one side sells olives, dates, spices and preserved lemons. The square is free and open at all hours, and it is the usual starting point for a walk to the mausoleum and the granaries.
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Qara Prison
Brick pillars and low vaults run through the underground chambers known as Habs Qara, entered beside the Koubba el-Khayatine pavilion a few minutes' walk south of Bab Mansour. Only a short lit section is open, and a visit takes about 15 minutes. Floors are uneven, light is dim and the air stays cool even in summer.
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Sentissi Mosque Minaret
Green glazed tiles wrap a cylindrical minaret in the upper lanes, lettered with a verse of the Quran in white script. It is the only round minaret in Morocco, raised in 1939. The mosque below is closed to non-Muslims, so the tower is seen from the street. A local guide can lead the way through the steep alleys.
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Volubilis
Mosaic floors still lie in place in the houses of this Roman town, among them scenes of Orpheus and the labours of Hercules, below a triumphal arch and the columns of the basilica. The Unesco listed ruins spread across open slopes with almost no shade. Entry is ticketed, a small museum stands by the gate, and mornings or late afternoons are cooler.
