Djemaa el-Fna translates to Assembly of the Dead. Which sounds a lot grimmer and less lively than the place itself: one of the largest squares in Marrakech's medina, and the main one as far as both locals and tourists are concerned. During the day it still looks like something out of the Arabian Nights, or Disney's Aladdin, depending on what generation you are, with lots of colourful marketplace type activity and entertainments going on, including snake charming, traditional healers plying their trade, musicians, men walking around with apes looking for photo opps., and colourfully dressed local water sellers – it doesn't get much more traditional than that, and lots of stalls selling all sorts of everything. In the evening the smell of cooking takes over the whole place and the magicians, dancing boys and story tellers come out, replacing the circus folk of the day.

On one side of the marketplace are the entrances to the labyrinths of the souks, where most of the real trading takes places, and along another are the cafes where you can sit and watch the colour from a quieter vantage on a terrace.

Written by  Esther Blume.

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