Superb architecture; well preserved but needs more detailing of what was done, manuscripts should be shown, what a typical room looked like etc
Shut yourself into one of the 100 small rooms that made up this Koranic boarding school and you can begin to guess at how the 900 students here might have lived. The central courtyard with its decorations and water feature are impressive in scale and execution. But even the living quarters are finely decorated with moulded plasterwork. It is by far the most fascinating building to be seen on a joint ticket with the Museum of Marrakesh and, when it's not closed for renovation, the Koubba el Baroudiyn. It's main drawback is that it draws crowds of visitors which can detract from the calm of the place.
This is really worth seeing - definitely the historic highlight of the city. The intricate detail of the decoration is incredibly beautiful, and the tiny students' cells are fun to explore.
The building is a historic site but not properly preserved at all with bits of the plasters coming off, broken door frames, no English descriptions or explanations of what it was, how it was run, its history etc. Not the best value for money for the combined ticket of the extremely dirty and dusty museum and the madrassa.
You pay 50 for entrance or 60 if you want to see the museum of Morocco too. Both quite nice and worth to see.
If you own or manage Ali Ben Youssef Medersa (Madrasa), register now for free tools to enhance your listing, attract new reviews, and respond to reviewers.
