Ben Youssef Madrasa

Brief information

At the Ben Youssef Madrasa, academic life was hidden within a dense system of courtyards, corridors, and small rooms. This is a former Quranic school in Marrakesh and the largest madrasa in Morocco: its scale is evident not only in its overall area, but also in the building’s layout, designed for many students.

The school was founded in the 14th century under the Marinids together with the mosque of the same name, and in the 16th century the building was rebuilt by the Saadian sultan Abdallah I al-Ghalib. The completion date, 1565, is confirmed by an inscription in the prayer room. Later its purpose changed: in 1960 the madrasa was closed as an educational institution, and in 1982 it opened as a museum. For this reason, today it is most important to read it as a preserved model of a school, rather than simply as a memorial building.

What to notice first

The main point of reference is the central courtyard with a large rectangular basin for ablutions. It shows that everyday ritual was built into the most visible part of the building. Around this open space, it is worth comparing two types of rooms: the prayer room with its dating inscription and the residential hujras, that is, the students’ cells.

There are 107 hujras here, arranged on two levels around seven inner courtyards. These courtyards are connected by a corridor running along three sides of the main courtyard, so the building looks like a system of nested spaces: the communal courtyard, passageways, small courtyards, rooms. Traditional galleries run along two sides of the main courtyard, but they are separated by a blank wall. This detail changes the perception of scale: the madrasa could accommodate up to 900 students, but its plan does not reveal everything at once; instead, it breaks school life into separate, quieter parts.