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No. 03, The districts · 03 of 11

Mouassine: the Saadian fountain, the dyers and a quieter medina

Mouassine is a quarter of the Marrakech medina a few lanes northwest of Jemaa el-Fnaa, built around a 16th-century Saadian mosque and fountain. It is quieter than the main souks, with galleries, restored riads and the dyers' souk next door. Go in the morning, when the dyers start work.

Best timeMorning

Eat here
Rooftop cafés looking over the minarets
Don't miss
The Mouassine fountain (about 1562–63)
Get my written quoteQuote for: the medina and souks walk
The Mouassine fountain: three horseshoe arches behind an iron railing
The Mouassine fountain · Photo: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

Mouassine at a glance

Best time
Morning, when the light comes down into the lanes and the dyers start work.
What it feels like
The medina's quiet artistic corner: galleries, restored riads and old fountains, a few lanes from the noise.
Eat here
Rooftop cafés looking over the minarets; tea with a view.
See
  • The Mouassine fountain (about 1562–63)
  • The Mouassine mosque complex
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • The dyers' souk next door

The fountain

The Mouassine fountain was built in 1562–63 under the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib, as part of the mosque complex. It had separate troughs for people and for animals.

Place Mouassine, pink walls and shopfronts leading to an arched gate into the souk
Place Mouassine, toward the souk gate · by day · Photo: Robert Prazeres, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized)

The dyers next door

East of the Mouassine mosque, the dyers hang wet skeins of wool across the lane. Ask before photographing the dyers themselves.

A rooftop terrace at night, low lights along the tables and the Koutoubia lit on the skyline
A medina rooftop, the Koutoubia lit · at night

Gardens and rooftops

Le Jardin Secret is in the quarter. Rooftop cafés look over the minarets, a calm place for mint tea above the lanes.

A riad courtyard at night, candles, red cushions and palms under the arcade
A riad courtyard in the medina · at night

A neighbourhood hammam

Public hammams in the medina charge MAD 10–40 to enter; Lonely Planet gives Hammam Mouassine from about MAD 10, with an attendant's scrub MAD 50–100. Bring flip-flops and a towel.

Don't miss

  • The Mouassine fountain (about 1562–63)
  • The Mouassine mosque complex
  • Le Jardin Secret
  • The dyers' souk next door
  • A rooftop restaurant by day, cushions and parasols over the rooftopsA medina rooftop · by day
  • A lantern seller sitting among his brass lamps in a souk shopA lantern seller in the souk
  • Folded msemen flatbread and glasses of mint tea on a trayMsemen and mint tea

Worth knowing before you go

  • If someone says the street ahead is closed, it isn't. Say 'la, shukran' and keep walking.
  • Never photograph inside a hammam with bathers present.

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Questions people ask

How old is the Mouassine fountain?

It dates to 1562–63, built under the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib with the Mouassine mosque.

Can visitors use the Mouassine hammam?

Yes. Local public hammams welcome visitors, with separate hours or entrances for men and women. Entry is about MAD 10 at Hammam Mouassine.

When is the best time to visit Mouassine?

Morning, when light comes into the lanes and the dyers' souk is at work.