beautiful koranic school in the heart of marrakech
The Koranic school was probably built around the year 1340. However, large parts of the school were added around the year 1570.
In 1960, the teaching was stopped and opened to the public. In 1999, there was a major renovation.
After that, in 2017 there were again big renovations and therefore it was closed until April 2022.
The school usually hosted up to 300 students, and towards the end there were over 1,000 students. Mainly younger students were welcome. One could study all fields, but especially theology.
There are 130 rooms for the students in the whole school.
Today the Medersa is considered one of the most famous sights of Marrakech. It is visited annually by thousands of tourists from all over the world.
The Madersa were originally founded by Sultan Abu I-Hassen, an emperor who in his time conquered Algeria and Tunisia. He is often referred to as the Black Sultan.
But it was not until Abdallah al-Ghalib (1517 – 1574) that the school was expanded. He was also ruler over Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The Sultan carried out many construction projects in Marrakech, he not only renovated the Medersa, but also ordered the construction of the Jewish quarter Mellah in Marrakech. The inhabitants of this quarter were under his protection.
Abdallah al-Ghalib changed the capital from Fés to Marrakech. Despite the many threats from inside and outside the country, he managed to protect his kingdom in a stable way.
Through him, the Medersa Ben Youssef became the largest Islamic college of theology, in the whole Arab world known at that time.
