Visit the Marrakech Museum: tickets, prices, schedules

Passing through the splendid city of Marrakech, Morocco? If you want to learn more about local culture, head to the fascinating Marrakech Museum!

Located in a splendid building, in turn palace tower and college of young girls, the Musée de Marrakech has been located there since 1995, and is one of the most interesting places to discover when you come to the narrow streets of the city of Marrakech! In fact, there are splendid collections: ceramics, weapons, typical tapestries or traditional objects of Morocco. But many other exciting surprises await the visitor, eager to discover the Marrakech Museum, like a traditional hammam!

If you would like to visit the Marrakech Museum during your stay in Morocco, we have concocted a small, concise and practical travel guide to discover all the necessary practical information: a quick history of the place, major attractions and collections to be discovered within this unique cultural space, as well as access to privileges, schedules and rates to offer a well-deserved stop.

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History of the Marrakech Museum

Today, the palace was built by Mehdi Mnebhi at the end of the 19th century. The latter was the Minister of Defence Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz , and was even promoted to the post of ambassador in Germany and England. This dignitary ceda, shortly before his death, his riyad (term meaning a Moroccan house including an inner courtyard) to his son-in-law Thami El Glaoui, the Pacha of Marrakech.

Then, when Morocco became independent in 1956, the palace, which became State property, housed the first school of daughters in Marrakech, while its state of conservation gradually deteriorated. It was finally closed for several years.

Later, it was restored and transformed into a museum by Omar Benjelloun , a great collector of Moroccan art and patron, who gave his name to the foundation governing the Museum of Marrakech today. Since 1995, it has organized temporary exhibitions around contemporary art or Moroccan artistic heritage, and offers various interesting collections that we will present below.

What to see and do at the Marrakech Museum?

In fact, the establishment of the Marrakech Museum within the riyad deeply affected the location: among the two main entrances, the first one was condemned in order to allow the second one to serve as the main entrance for the many tourists wishing to visit the Marrakech Museum. The patio , which served.. from stable at the very beginning of the existence of the place, now houses the ticketing, the cafeteria where you will be possible to dive into one of the many books marketed in the bookstore adjacent to the palace around a succulent mint tea, as well as the administrative offices and various information to be known about the place. The central patio is also intended to host many artistic events, such as conferences, shows, concerts..

♪ lounges , directly accessible from the patio, are used to present exhibitions and collections, temporary or not. There are many archaeological treasures, such as splendid Islamic coins present in Morocco between the 8th and the 20th century.

The most amazing and interesting part of the Marrakech Museum is that of the various ethnographic pieces : the ceramics - including the famous ceramics of Fez, constituting the essentials of the collection with more than two hundred pieces, and those of Safi, revealing the know-how of the great ceramic masters of the city-, then the pottery - a superb set of terracotta objects, mainly from the mountains of the Rif to those of the Anti-Atlas-, the splendid jewels - which are an integral part of the local folklore and are essential elements of the traditional trimmings, mostly made of silver and set with precious and/or semi-precious stones, and whose differences can be admired according to their region of origin-, beautiful costumes -citadins, or rural, whose collection is divided respectively into caftans of Fez and burnous-, traditional weapons - scary dungeons with curved blade, kumiya, and right blade named sboula; then low-pitched blade sword in silver furnace, and rifles from the north of the country as evidenced by their thick butt.

A very interesting collection presents incredible historical documents , including splendid calligraphy and original engravings, not necessarily made by local artists, and attesting to exchanges between artists from all over the world and some of the best local engravers.

Finally, we will be surprised to discover many objects from the Jewish worship : pairs of ornaments serving the Torah rollers, vases and dishes typical of the Jewish-Moroccan community, aspersions.. Yes! Morocco remains an example of successful mixing between different communities, so different and yet so close to each other. The whole is perfectly inserted into a typical Moroccan architectural furniture, whose culture is pierced by the doors and wooden beams from various Atlas regions.

The old kitchens of the palace , the douiria, are of more modest dimensions and offer a more minimalist style: here we will find, when we come to visit the Musée de Marrakech, the exhibitions dedicated to Moroccan contemporary art, bringing together many Orientalist works demonstrating the skill of local artists -Benallal, Bennani, Belkahia, Chaibia, Lakhdar... and so many others to have taken advantage of the European culture

The hammam was also reopened in space with exhibitions, often directed towards this type of space and revealing the certain attachment of the Moroccans to these places of gathering, gaiety and good scenic mood. The latter was accessed, and its superb domes raised it as an architectural work, by the main living room because the women, at the time of the design of the palace, rarely came out of their apartments and that made no mistake!

Finally, one living room , present on the first floor, is filled with the pure Hispano-Mauresque style with its superb furniture in raw cedar and presents also various temporary collections as the traveller enjoys admiring when he comes to visit the Marrakech Museum!

How to go to the Marrakech Museum?

To visit the Marrakech Museum, it is very simple: located in the heart of the city, you just have to go to the Médersa Ben Youssef , 100 meters away and easily accessible by taxi. We recommend that you select this means of transport, affordable and easier to use than buses, especially in the summer, and especially convenient if you wish to avoid driving in this city to traffic, say it.. chaotic! In addition, this will allow you to avoid having to look for a parking space in this city where the latter are rare.

If you are already on site, and you are on foot, know that the Marrakesh Museum is less than 500 metres from the Museum souk of Marrakech and close to all practical amenities.

Schedules & Rates of the Marrakech Museum

HORARI

The museum is open daily , 9 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. except on the Tuesday he closes.

RATES

• Adult : 50 dirhams (5€)
• Child : Free

Council : Attention, during the summer season, which is also the high tourist season, many visitors can be tempted to imitate you by coming also admire the collections present! Choose a visit during the morning, during the opening hours, to enjoy a quieter visit.