Walls of Marrakesh

This guide to the Walls of Marrakesh follows Ali ibn Yusuf, the Almoravid amir who in 1126 grew anxious about a rival movement gathering in the mountains and ordered his capital ringed in red rammed earth. You'll hear how astrologers were consulted to pick the luckiest day to break ground, and how workers packed nine kilometers of wall in under eight months. Look closely at the wall's surface for the faint horizontal bands left by each rammed layer.