Doors 332 – Doors of the souks, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part XII)
It was inevitable that one of our days in Marrakesh would be allocated to shopping in the souks. These are open-air marketplaces in squares and in the central labyrinth of lanes in the north central part of the Medina. They are exactly as you imagine or might have seen in film or video… dusty, cramped, vibrant, smelly, chaotic and exciting. There is danger lurking in the form of mules pulling goods wagons and mopeds absolutely everywhere, weaving their way skilfully (and also recklessly) through the crowds of tourists and merchants – more on this in a couple of weeks.
The souks tend to be divided up into different areas, each specialising in different wares; textiles, jewellery, tinsmiths, spices, food and so on. The nature of the souks are such that losing your way is part of the experience. Even with mapping apps, navigation is challenging, and we went round in circles countless times, encountering places that we recognised from an earlier pass.
There is no danger of mugging or robbery, other than the ridiculous, and mandatory haggling for any and every item – something we Brits are pretty useless at. We tried to be as canny as we could, but we were dealing with professionals. We came home with some rather nice cushion covers, a couple of ceramic cups and a lamp (genie not included).
The doors in this selection are mostly in the streets of the souks. From the photographs, it doesn’t look all that busy, but I can assure you it was… I just waited for people to get out of the way to frame the doors a bit better. I hope you enjoy them:
Unfortunately, I don’t think these pictures convey the bustle and chaos of the place, where one is constantly changing direction to avoid passing hazards, not least avoiding cats and kittens randomly scattered about the place. The souks aren’t simply a tourist trap, they are a way of life and deeply steeped in culture and history. To avoid them would be a big mistake if visiting Marrakesh.
Next time we take an out-of-town excursion…
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s weekly Thursday Doors post.
Natural adventures 