JAMAA LAFNA SQUARE

The Heartbeat of Marrakech

Everything revolves around this unique place and we are part of it to bring you closer to the magical area and its countless attractions.

Facts & A bit of history

The Jamaa Lafna Square “Place Jemaa El Fna” is a must in Marrakech. A true artery of the Medina of Marrakech, it captures the abundance of life and activities that characterize the imperial city. The charm of this magical place comes from the multitude of street artists, stalls of dried fruit or freshly squeezed orange juice in front of you and the multitude of small restaurants that invest its center in the early evening and participate in perfume all the surroundings. It is frequented in the morning to taste the excellent pancakes of Toubkal coffee, the midday to sunbathe on the terrace of the Café de France or the evening to enjoy dozens of musical and artistic events that take place there. At dusk, a colorful crowd converges to Jemâa el Fna to taste the cool evening by attending family shows.

Located in the heart of the Medina, Jemâa el Fna Square is the geographical, cultural and social center of Marrakech. It is dominated by the minaret of Koutoubia nearby, it gives access to the alleys of the souks, it is the place of passage to reach many riads and luxury restaurants nestled in the heart of an alley of Marrakech. One of the attractions of the place Jemâa el Fna is that its activities are not exclusively oriented to tourists. Herbalists, tooth pickers, public writers or marabouts offer their services to a varied Moroccan clientele.

The Berber merchants, the peasants who came to town to sell the crops, the wealthy locals, the tourists in ballad and of course the Marrakchis fall under the charm of the animations and trade of the place Jemâa el Fna. Some regret a time gone when the place was not paved and merchants little regulated. The place has just to dress in new pavement and its street vendors carriage shiny but standardized stalls.

Without great architectural interest, the charm of the place Jemâa El Fna comes from this popular traditional animation.
View of one of the terraces overlooking the square, the proliferation of kerosene lamps illuminating the stalls and restaurants is reminiscent of a cloud of fireflies in the heart of the city. The hucksters harangue passersby and tourists to sell them a henna tattoo or a miracle cure.

The small outdoor restaurants attract you by the color and the smell of their dishes that you will taste around a summary table.
Famous and admired worldwide, the place Jemâa el Fna is astonishing by the variety of shows it is today given to see but also by some of its cultural sides. The triangular esplanade is the center of innumerable representations of acrobats, jugglers, snake charmers, Berber musicians, and other acrobats.

In some small restaurants, the heads of sheep, indelibly in plain view, subliminally recall the primary function of the place Jemâa el Fna. Its name means indeed “assembly of the dead”, an appellation that it owes to the will of the sultans to expose to the crowd the head of the executed criminals.