or Marrakesh
City (pop., 1994: 621,914), southern Morocco.
One of the four imperial cities, it lies in the centre of the Haouz plain. It was founded in 1062 by Yūsuf ibn Tāshufīn as the African capital of the Almoravid dynasty . It fell to the Almohad dynasty in 1147, passed to the Marīnid dynasty in 1269, and was the capital under the Saʽdid dynasty in the 16th century. In the premodern era, it was one of Islam's great cities. In 1921 it was captured by the French, who dominated the city until 1956. Now a popular tourist resort, it has many historical buildings and a well-known souk.