Despite its name — Square of the Dead — Place Djemaa el Fna is a very lively place. A traditional meeting place for peasants and merchants from the Sous region, the High Atlas and the South, it was where the caravansary stopped. And where the story tellers, singers, dancers, acrobats, snake charmers came to entertain them. Although the caravansary no longer exists, the entertainers, however, remained.
The square has become the heart of Marrakesh. Jerome and Jean Tharaud once said “the soul of the South is here, in the groups of the onlookers who, from morning to night, gather and disperse around the street performers with the fluidity of smoke.” At dusk, this square fills with jugglers and story tellers reminiscent of the griots of the Southern Sahara, Berbers who have come down from the mountains, men from the desert and fellahs from the plain deeply engrossed in their songs and dances performed with tame snakes.
At this time of day, when the peaks of the distant Atlas Mountains catch the last of the sunlight, the atmosphere is disquieting. This spellbinding spectacle will encourage you to linger on the terraces of the numerous surrounding cafés. In the mornings, this vast square, located on the edge of the souk district and bordered by shops and workshops, is crowded with fruit and spice sellers, guerrab with their leather water bottles and metal drinking cups, basket sellers, ironmongers and barbers. In the afternoons come the Gnaoua dancers descended from former Guinean slaves, musicians, storytellers, snake charmers and entertainers with performing monkeys. Before starting their performance, they establish their halqa (imaginary circle blessed by a saint).