Marrakesh

A city built in southern Morocco, founded in 1062 by Yusuf ibn Tashufin of the dynasty of the Almoravids and served as the Almoravid capital until it fell to the Almohads in 1147. It was the capital of the Almoravids from 1062-1147 and then of the Almohads from 1147-1248. Marrakesh contains one major Almoravid monument, the al-Barudiyin Qubba, a domed mausoleum built in 1109 or 1117. Of the Almohad period, there are city walls and the Kutubiya Mosque; its famous minaret was built in 1199.

A city built on a fertile plain at the foot of the High Atlas in Morocco. Marrakesh was the capital of two dynasties with possessions on both sides of the Strait of Gibraltar: the Almoravids (1061-1147) and the Almo-hads (1147-1248). The Almoravids were nomadic Sanhaja berbers from Mauretania. Theywereconvertedtolslamin 1043and cl 062 their leader Yusuf b. Tashufin (1061-1107) founded Marrakesh as their first permanent settlement. Yusuf invaded Spain in 1090, annexing a substantial area despite strong opposition led by El Cid in Valencia. The Almohads of the High Atlas attacked Marrakesh unsucessfully in 1130, but in 1147 Abd al-Mu’min captured the town and in the next 20 years took most Almoravid possessions in the Maghreb and southern Spain. Marrakesh contains one major Almoravid monument, the al-Barudiyin Qubba, a domed mausoleum built by Ali b. Yusuf in 1109 or 1117. Of the Almohad period, we have the city walls and the Kutubiya Mosque; its most famous feature — the minaret — was built in 1199.