Ben Youssef Madrasa FAQ

Foreign adults pay 50 MAD. Moroccan adults pay 20 MAD on showing a Moroccan identity card, children under 12 pay 10 MAD, and groups of 21 people or more pay 30 MAD each.

Yes, everyone pays entry: 50 MAD for foreign adults, 10 MAD for children under 12. You buy it at the entrance on the day; there is no free day listed.

At the ticket desk inside the entrance on Rue Assouel: tickets are sold only at the entrance; the official online ticketing was under maintenance when we checked. Tour platforms sell guided visits, and a few include the entry.

Not on the official website for now: when we checked, its online ticketing was under maintenance and it said tickets are sold only at the entrance. You don’t need to book ahead for an individual visit. Tour platforms sell guided visits, and a few include the entry ticket.

Plan on cash: recent visitor guides report that the ticket desk takes cash only, in dirhams. Card payment existed only for the official online ticketing, which was under maintenance when we checked. Bring dirhams in small notes; ATMs are easy to find around Jemaa el-Fna, not near the madrasa.

Yes, a reduced price: children under 12 pay 10 MAD. The official site does not list free entry for small children. Keep an eye on them by the courtyard pool and on the upstairs balconies.

No limit is published for individual visitors. Groups of 21 people or more pay 30 MAD per person, and the rules for organised groups are: groups of up to 30 people plus their guide, and tourist groups must be led by a qualified, accredited tourist guide.

No refund or exchange is offered: the official sales terms contain no refund or exchange clause; online tickets were for a chosen time slot, paid by bank card through the CMI platform. Today you buy the ticket at the door right before going in, so there is no date to change. For a tour booked online, the platform’s cancellation terms apply (most offers on this site allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before).

Not for an official ticket at the moment: tickets are sold only at the entrance; the official online ticketing was under maintenance when we checked. If you booked a tour, the platform’s voucher on your phone is usually enough for the guide.

The official online ticketing was under maintenance when we checked, so most visitors simply pay at the door. If you paid online, write to contact@medersabenyoussef.ma or call +212 524 38 41 12. For a tour, contact the platform you booked with.

9:00–19:00, every day. During Ramadan the madrasa keeps shorter hours: 9:00–16:30, every day.

Yes. The official hours are 9:00–19:00, every day, with no weekly closing day. Hours are shorter in Ramadan: 9:00–16:30, every day.

Yes. It was closed for restoration from November 2018 to April 2022 and is open again 9:00–19:00, every day. Older blog posts that say it is closed date from those years.

Plan about 45 minutes to 1 hour; up to 1.5 hours if you explore every upstairs room and take photos. The building has 134 student rooms on two floors, and the upstairs corridors are where most people slow down.

On foot. The madrasa is 1.1 km north of the square, in the Ben Youssef neighbourhood, in the heart of the medina; the official site says to follow the signs. Allow 15 to 20 minutes through the souks, and ignore anyone who says the road ahead is closed.

No, individual visitors can walk round on their own. A guide helps most with finding the way through the medina and reading the inscriptions. Organised groups are different: groups of up to 30 people plus their guide, and tourist groups must be led by a qualified, accredited tourist guide.

The official website has an audio guide page, but it gives no price, languages or way to get it. For a person, guided visits can be requested from the madrasa by phone, email or its contact form; the madrasa also lists individual, group and “exclusive” visits. Our room-by-room guide works as a free alternative.

The madrasa lists individual, group and “exclusive” visits. Group visits are for groups of up to 30 people plus their guide, and tourist groups must be led by a qualified, accredited tourist guide. Book by writing to contact@medersabenyoussef.ma or calling +212 524 38 41 12.

Only partly: the courtyard and prayer hall are on the ground floor; the upper floor is reached only by two steep stairways and the corridors are narrow, with no published step-free route. The alleys from Jemaa el-Fna are busy and uneven. Wheelchair users can see the courtyard, galleries and prayer hall; call +212 524 38 41 12 before you go to ask about the entrance corridor.

A small bag is fine; leave suitcases at your riad. No cloakroom is mentioned on the official site, the corridors are narrow and the stairs steep, so a baby carrier works better than a stroller upstairs. A stroller is manageable in the courtyard.

Plan to visit without your pet. The madrasa publishes no pet policy, no visitor guide reports pets inside, and the crowded souks on the way are hard going for animals. For an assistance dog, call +212 524 38 41 12 ahead.

Nothing published allows re-entry, and the ticket is bought at the door for that visit. See everything in one go: plan about 45 minutes to 1 hour; up to 1.5 hours if you explore every upstairs room and take photos, upper floor included.

The official site does not publish photography rules, and visitors commonly photograph the courtyard and rooms. For the classic shot of the pool, come at 9:00, before the groups. Be discreet with people and in the prayer hall.

No dress code is published. It is still a religious building in the old medina, so covered shoulders and knees are the respectful choice, and comfortable shoes help on the uneven alleys.

Yes. The madrasa is open to all visitors as a historic monument, with a ticket. The Ben Youssef Mosque next door, like most mosques in Morocco, is not open to non-Muslims.

Phone +212 524 38 41 12, email contact@medersabenyoussef.ma, address Rue Assouel, Marrakech 40000 (official contact page). We are an independent guide and cannot answer for the madrasa.

For most visitors, yes: for 50 MAD you see one of the finest courtyards in Morocco, with carved cedar, stucco and zellij from the 1560s, and 134 student rooms you can walk into. Go early: groups fill the courtyard from mid-morning.

The building you visit was completed in 1564–1565, more than 460 years ago, by the Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib. A first madrasa stood on the site in the 14th century, founded by the Marinid sultan Abu al-Hasan (r. 1331–1348).

It was a Quranic college beside the Ben Youssef Mosque. Rebuilt in 1564–1565, it became the largest madrasa in Morocco and taught religious sciences, philosophy, medicine and mathematics for four centuries. It closed as a school in 1960, opened as a monument in 1982, and reopened after restoration in 2022.

Next door: the Almoravid Koubba, the only surviving example of Almoravid architecture in Marrakech, an ablutions pavilion for the old Ben Youssef Mosque, and the Marrakech Museum. A short walk away: Le Jardin Secret, the Maison de la Photographie and Dar el Bacha. Each charges its own entry.

Our advice: two to three days cover the main medina sights at a calm pace. The madrasa itself needs about 45 minutes to 1 hour; up to 1.5 hours if you explore every upstairs room and take photos; pair it with the Almoravid Koubba, the Marrakech Museum and Le Jardin Secret for one full morning.