Jemaa el-Fna square
Snake charmers by day, a hundred open-air kitchens by night, and the medina all around.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 3 hrs
Best time
After 6pm
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
The square has been the heart of Marrakech since the city was founded in the eleventh century, and it served as a place of execution — its name is said to mean 'assembly of the dead'. UNESCO listed it in 2001 as oral and intangible heritage, a first: what is protected here is the storytellers, musicians and healers, not the buildings.
It changes twice a day. In the afternoon it is snake charmers, monkeys and orange juice sellers. Around six, dozens of kitchens put up their trestles within the hour and the square becomes an enormous open-air restaurant.
Getting there
In the middle of the medina. Petit taxis drop you at the edge; no cars enter the square itself. The whole souk leads off its northern corner.
Rules on site
Any photograph of a snake charmer, a monkey or a water carrier is paid for, and the price is demanded afterwards: ask first, or do not photograph. Terrace touts quote prices that are not the ones on the menu.
Checked on 28 August 2026 at Culture Commune — what to do in Marrakech in 2026
Other places in Marrakech
- Majorelle GardenMajorelle blue, bamboo and cactus, in the garden Yves Saint Laurent saved from the developers.
- Bahia PalaceA hundred and fifty rooms, eight hectares of zellij and painted cedar, built for a grand vizier and his four wives.
Saadian TombsA necropolis walled up for two centuries, found again in 1917 by an aerial photograph.