The short answer
No. Friday is the day of the main weekly prayer, and many souk shops open late or close for a few hours around midday, then reopen in the afternoon. Sights, riads, restaurants and Jemaa el-Fnaa carry on. Friday lunch is traditionally couscous, and many restaurants serve it.
In more detail
The quiet spell is around the midday prayer. Mosques fill, the call to prayer carries over the medina, and the souk lanes thin out. By mid-afternoon most shops are open again and trading into the evening.
A few things are specific to Friday. Many of the Mechoui Alley stalls, where slow-roast lamb is sold off the bone at midday, rest on Fridays. The Agdal gardens, by contrast, usually open on Fridays and Sundays, though they close when the King is in residence.
Local hammams are busiest on Thursdays and Fridays before the Friday prayer, so pick another day for a quiet first visit.
If you are staying in a riad, ask whether the kitchen is making Friday couscous. It is the traditional Friday lunch in Moroccan homes, and many riads and restaurants serve it.
Good to know
- Sights on Friday morning, shopping in the afternoon.
- Try Friday couscous at lunch.
- Check the Agdal gardens before going.