{"id":2417,"date":"2013-01-15T16:32:29","date_gmt":"2013-01-15T16:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/riadinmarrakech.com\/?page_id=2417"},"modified":"2013-01-15T17:37:11","modified_gmt":"2013-01-15T17:37:11","slug":"bab-ksiba","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/riadinmarrakech.com\/index.php\/bab-ksiba\/","title":{"rendered":"Bab Ksiba"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bab_Ksiba_500X659\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bab Ksiba (Arabic: \u0628\u0627\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0642\u0635\u064a\u0628\u0629\u200e, B\u0101b al-Qu\u1e63ayyabah) is one of the nineteen gates of Marrakech. It was built in the 12th century in the time of the Almohad dynasty.<\/p>\n

The name Ksiba, (pronounced Lak- siba), in Berber refers to the Kasbah district of the Medina, where this gateway is located. Kasbah means Fortress where Ksiba means literally “Little-Fort”.<\/p>\n

To the left of Bab Ksiba stands an ancient Eucalyptus tree.<\/p>\n

The function of the Bab Ksiba gate provides access to the southern end of the Kasbah district of the Medina. The first citadel of the Sultans of Morocco.<\/p>\n

This makes obvious sense when one considers the big gate to the Kasbah found at the Kasbah districts northern end is Bab Agnaou.<\/p>\n

Bab Ksiba and Bab Agnaou gives entrance to the Royal Kasbah in the southern part of the medina of Marrakech a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a favourite location for Tourist Accommodation within the Medina. The Kasbah, built by the Almohad sultan Yaqub al-Mansour, is the site of El Mansouria (the kasbah mosque), the El Badi Palace, Agdal Gardens, the Saadian Tombs the Royal Palace and the current King’s New Palace.<\/p>\n

\"Bab_Ksiba_walk_220\"<\/a>Bab Ksiba is a pretty little entrance into the southern end of the Kasbah.<\/p>\n

Bab Kasiba ( pronounced Bab Lak-siba ) offers the wary traveller advantages.<\/p>\n

Firstly\u2026 every Taxi driver in Marrakech knows where it is. If you have no easy form of communication, French, Berber or otherwise, by simply sitting in a taxi and saying \u201cBab Lak-siba\u201d you can be assured of a correct destination.<\/p>\n

Secondly\u2026 Apart from a \u201ccigarette seller\u201d lazing under the shade, provided by a giant Eucalyptus Tree, there are no hawkers. Unless, that is, you want to purchase a single cigarette or make the vendors day, and go the whole hog, buying a packet..<\/p>\n

Thirdly\u2026 and most importantly, not only is it pretty much at the end of a 1 mile road that leads to Marrakech International Airport. Using this destination as a \u201cdrop off\u201d point and rendezvous, for a Riad assistant to act as escort, then you won\u2019t be lost amongst a crowd of European tourists. (Who all look the same !!)<\/p>\n

We tested Bab Ksiba, as a rendezvous point during our Riad hunting search<\/h3>\n

Fiona elected to test her theory with and achieved instant success.<\/p>\n

My wife stayed in the company of the cigarette seller and sent me off to find a local chap, who had not seen Fiona before, to see if he could locate her and guide her back to the Riad where we were staying.<\/p>\n

This time\u2026. I wasted a while before finding and instructing a local chap, as this time it was Fiona\u2019s solution and not mine.
\nI wanted, at least, a Pyrrhic Victory !<\/p>\n

Sadly she returned with the local chap within minutes of my instruction and continues to bask in her glory.<\/p>\n

“The mission was now to find a suitable Riad as close to the pretty Bab Ksiba as we could……”<\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"Bab_Ksiba_entrace_500\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bab Ksiba (Arabic: \u0628\u0627\u0628 \u0627\u0644\u0642\u0635\u064a\u0628\u0629\u200e, B\u0101b al-Qu\u1e63ayyabah) is one of the nineteen gates of Marrakech. It was built in the 12th century in the time of the Almohad dynasty. The name Ksiba, (pronounced Lak- siba), in Berber refers to the Kasbah district of the Medina, where this gateway is located. Kasbah means Fortress where Ksiba […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2417","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t