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1564
The largest Islamic college in the Maghreb was finished in 1564
The Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib commissioned the madrasa, and an inscription records that it was completed in 1564 and 1565. When it was finished, it was the largest madrasa in the Maghreb, and it could reportedly hold upwards of 800 students. It is widely recognized as a pinnacle of Saadian and Moroccan architecture.
800students it could reportedly house
The name
It is named for the mosque beside it, and replaced an earlier college
The madrasa takes its name from the adjacent Ben Youssef Mosque, which was founded by the Almoravid sultan Ali ibn Yusuf. According to historical sources, the first madrasa on this site was founded by the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hasan. Madrasas in the Maghreb trained scholars in Maliki Islamic law, jurisprudence and the readings of the Qur'an.
The layout
The entrance is designed to surprise you
The floor plan is nearly square, about 40 by 43 meters, and the building is entered from a single street entrance. A narrow corridor leads to a vestibule, and from there into the central courtyard. As in many Islamic buildings, the way in is carefully designed to inspire astonishment in an unexpected opening of space. Student dormitory cells cluster around the first and second levels of the courtyard.
1960
It closed in 1960 and has twice been restored
The madrasa was closed in 1960. It was refurbished and reopened to the public as a historical site in 1982. It closed for restoration again in November 2018, and reopened to the public in April 2022. It attracts thousands of tourists every year.
Day 2, afternoon
It comes after The souks. Then Le Jardin Secret.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Ben Youssef Madrasa, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.