{"id":11095,"date":"2021-12-13T08:31:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T07:31:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eneasmagazine.com\/en\/?p=11095"},"modified":"2021-12-12T16:08:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T15:08:56","slug":"the-heartbeat-of-the-medicna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eneasmagazine.com\/en\/lifestyle\/tourism\/the-heartbeat-of-the-medicna\/","title":{"rendered":"The heartbeat of the Medicna"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Yves Saint Laurent once said that Marrakech had taught him what color was. The famous French\u00a0fashion designer first visited the “red city” in 1966 with his partner Pierre Berg\u00e9. This trip was to\u00a0change their lives because soon after, they bought a Riad in the Medina, called Dar El Hanch, the house of the snake.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The chaotic world of the Medina, with its tangled alleys, souk, acrobats, snake charmers and dancers, fascinated and inspired St. Laurent, who spent long periods of his life in Marrakech, first in his riad in the Medina, then in a villa in the new city.<\/span><\/p>

The Medina is undoubtedly the heart of life in most Arab cities. Its treasures have been protected for centuries by its thick walls and a chaotic labyrinth of narrow streets, strategically designed so that the enemy would be lost in the event of an attack, but at the same time perfectly organized into orderly neighborhoods specializing in different trades and professions.<\/span><\/p>

In Marrakech, there are large, ornate and finely carved gates that once marked the separation between the different neighborhoods and can still be seen today. Each neighborhood is a real microcosm with a life of its own, where the most important emblems are never missing. The mosque, always close by for the frequent and daily prayers, and its imams reciting the eternal “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), the constant background music throughout Medina. The medersa is like a neighborhood school for children, where they learn not only to recite the holy verses of the Koran but also reading, mathematics, art and the values of coexistence in the Medina. Daily hygiene is fundamental, as the cleanliness of the body is a symbol of the cleanliness of the soul, and as there is no running water in many homes, public baths become an essential routine. It is here, with alternating hours for women and men, that socialization takes place, becoming an important meeting point for social, family and professional relationships. And finally, the neighborhood oven. In the past, houses in the Medina did not have their own oven, and each family took their bread, buns and filled pastries to be baked every day. In many cases, ten percent of the amount was left as payment to the baker. Today, these ovens are still in operation in all the neighborhoods of the Medina.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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