The Koutoubia Mosque, visible from many vantage points of Marrakech and towering over the world famous Jmaa el Fna Square, is an iconic symbol of the so-called ‘Red City.’ At 77 meters (over 252 ft), it dominates the skyline and is a useful orientation aid. Look out for the minaret with its distinctive four cooper balls from the roof of your riad or hotel. On clear days you will spot it from the window of your plane as you arrive for your Marrakech vacation in the Moroccan sky.
Tag: Koutoubia Mosque
The famous Koutoubia Mosque dominates the skyline of Marrakech. Koutoubia Mosque is 77 meters high, including it’s majestic minaret, and was built in 1158 by the Almohad Caliph Abd al-Mu’min (1094–1163) then completed by his grandson the Almoravid Sultan Yacoub El Mansour in 1195. Caliph Abd al-Mu’min also built the Giralda Tower in Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat which was never completed. The towering square Koutoubia minaret in Marrakech is all the more striking because the limestone walls remain undecorated by modern restorers.
During a one-day Agafay Desert excursion you can have tea or dinner with a Saharawi or Berber family in a village for a real taste of desert life or visit Lake Takerkoust. Lake Takerkoust is a manmade lake on the edge of the Agafay Desert that was built under the French Protectorate between 1929- 1935 to provide Marrakech and the surrounding cities with electricity as well as to irrigate the agricultural fields in the plain of Haouz.