Five Things to Know About Quake-Hit Marrakech

A person walks over debris next to a damaged building following an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
A person walks over debris next to a damaged building following an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
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Five Things to Know About Quake-Hit Marrakech

A person walks over debris next to a damaged building following an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, 09 September 2023. (EPA)
A person walks over debris next to a damaged building following an earthquake in Marrakech, Morocco, 09 September 2023. (EPA)

The historic Moroccan city of Marrakech suffered extensive damage in a powerful earthquake that has killed at least 820 people, mostly in rural and hard-to-reach areas.

Here are five things to know about the Ochre City, so called after the color of its stonework.

Top tourist destination

Situated at the foot of the snow-capped Atlas Mountains, the 11th century city of palms and elegant palaces is Morocco's top tourist attraction, welcoming over two million visitors a year.

The labyrinthine medina or old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the biggest in North Africa.

Its narrow alleys are usually thronged with visitors haggling with traders over the prices of everything from leather slippers to spices or admiring its stunning riads (palaces), with their exquisite zellige tiles, central courtyards and fountains.

Storytellers and snake charmers

The beating heart of Marrakech is the vast Jemaa el-Fna square, which comes alive each night with dancers, storytellers, snake charmers and dozens of food stalls brimming with traditional Moroccan dishes.

Looming over the square is the minaret of the 12th century Koutoubia mosque.

In 2011, a popular cafe on Jemaa el-Fna was targeted in a bomb attack that left 17 dead, most of them foreign tourists. Police said the attackers were admirers of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.

Giant oasis

One of Marrakech's other key attractions is a giant oasis of tens of thousands of palms as old as the city itself.

Apart from providing respite from the baking heat, the palm is a key supplier of dates, a key ingredient in Moroccan cuisine.

Conservationists have warned that urbanization and mass tourism -- operators led by Club Med have built resorts with golf courses amid the palms -- are causing the oasis to shrink.

Yves Saint Laurent

Legendary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent visited Marrakech in 1966 and was immediately smitten.

The city became a huge influence on his work, particularly his use of color.

Saint Laurent, who died in 2008, spent time there every year while designing his collections.

In 2017, a museum dedicated to his designs was opened in the city.

Film festival

Each November, Hollywood stars descend on Marrakech for its international film festival, with some of the screenings taking place under the stars in Jemaa el-Fna.

Sharon Stone, Martin Scorsese, Sigourney Weaver and Robert de Niro are among those to have walked the red carpet in a country that has long been a favorite location for international film shoots.



Chopin Waltz Unearthed after 200 Years

The birthplace of the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, May 7, 2010 in Wola, near Warsaw. (AFP)
The birthplace of the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, May 7, 2010 in Wola, near Warsaw. (AFP)
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Chopin Waltz Unearthed after 200 Years

The birthplace of the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, May 7, 2010 in Wola, near Warsaw. (AFP)
The birthplace of the Polish composer Frederic Chopin, May 7, 2010 in Wola, near Warsaw. (AFP)

An unknown waltz by Chopin, written nearly 200 years ago, has been discovered in the vault of the Morgan Library and Museum in New York.

The score, on a card bearing Frederic Chopin's hand-written name, was found by a curator in the spring, the New York Times reported Sunday.

"I thought, 'What's going on here? What could this be?' I didn't recognize the music," curator Robinson McClellan told the paper.

He was at first unsure that the piece was actually Chopin's after photographing the score and playing it on a keyboard at home.

He conferred with an academic at the University of Pennsylvania who is an expert on Chopin, before the Morgan concluded the find was genuine after testing the ink and paper.

The penmanship was also found to match Chopin's, including the reproduction of a stylized bass clef symbol as well as doodling characteristic of the composer.

"We have total confidence in our conclusion," McClellan said.

The museum believes that the music is from between 1830 and 1835, when Chopin was in his early 20s.

The tune features a stark opening and was described by pianist Lang Lang as containing "dramatic darkness turning into a positive thing."

Chopin, who wrote mostly piano solos, died aged 39 in France in 1849.