Souqs of Rissani
Souqs of Rissani
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4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles75 reviews
Excellent
39
Very good
31
Average
4
Poor
0
Terrible
1

AlbertSalichs
Manresa, Spain22,996 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019 • Family
Souqs of Rissani is the main market located in the town, near Merzouga Desert, in Morocco. In fact, it is a very big market divided in some souqs: clothes, sweets, dates (the most important local feuit), spicies (what smell!), meat zone and animals zone (very interesting, especially if you come here with children, because they can see donkeys, cows, bulls, goats, chickens and a lot of different other animals). For me, the most impressive market, we saw in Morocco. Better than Fez, Meknes and Chefchaouen. A hidden gem close to the desert. Too!
(see also Rissani Market, Moulay Ali Cherif Mausoleum)
Written February 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

mwcw
new mexico731 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2016 • Couples
A stop in Rissani wasn't on our itinerary but our guide thought we'd enjoy it and we did - a lot! Market days are Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. It's worth planning your trip around this. What makes it different from the many others we'd visited, was the fact that villagers come from miles around to sell their wares. Most arrive via donkey and there is a large donkey parking lot at one end of the market. The donkeys themselves, carts, saddle bags and related equipment are all sitting by the fence without anyone watching over them for theft. Our guide said that several months ago someone tried to steal something and was beaten by a crowd! The market offers everything imagineable with more spice and natural healing stalls than usual. Spices were weighed on an ancient counter-balance scale. We were offered many homeopathic cures to smell, rub on, or taste. There were few tourists so we got to see how the locals shop and bargain.
This area is more conservative and we saw many women completely covered burka style. The majority of men wore the jeballa although teens were still in jeans. I'd highly recommend a stop to do a reality check.
Written May 26, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

DonnaandCraig
Doylestown, PA364 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2015 • Couples
Rissani: it’s a dusty frontier town where the sand from the desert blows in and makes small drifts along the curb of road. The only thing that reminded us that we were still in the 21st century was the rubber car tires used on the donkey carts, and the ubiquitous cell phones. Take those away and you are back in the 1800’s or earlier. This is a very authentic local market where nothing (fortunately) has been done to accommodate tourists. The dirt lanes between the dilapidating stalls are deeply rutted. Overhead bamboo poles or hides are strung between the booths to provide dappled shade. It is bustling with life and raw, a gem in the rough.
Many welcoming, curious smiles greeted us as we explored the souq, along with discouraging stares if we pointed a camera at someone. The stalls are piled high with dates - 42 different varieties are grown in Morocco - and other wonderful looking vegetables grown in the nearby oasis. Outside the main market , we walked through the “donkey parking lot,” as our local guide Abdul (Authentic Tours Marrakech) called it, was full of braying beasts of burden resting from carting heavy loads into town from the countryside, waiting to take families back home at the end of the day. Further along, next to the cattle courtyard, the lamb market was in full swing. The shepherds were selling their flocks; newborn lambs were just getting their footing.
All manner of crafts were visible as Abdul led us around town. At the communal baker’s oven, Abdul explained that a family’s name is put on a piece of paper and baked into the crust of the flat bread so that everyone is sure to get back the right loaf.
Written February 7, 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

BretandSam
Geraldton, Australia3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2013 • Couples
Myself and my fiancé stopped in rissani trying to bus out to Fes but got harassed and lied to about bus times/existence and nearly forced to taking a private taxi by aggressive touts almost like a conspiracy, by the next morning everyone knew where we were going and where we were from. Nothing much here continue on to Merzouga or skip altogether, take Supratours bus from Merzouga to Fes-or-Marrakech.....good luck!
Written July 28, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

ALI T
Morocco2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2016 • Couples
Stope and stay in Rissani to see and feel the small desert town while
tourists immediately hurry on to the Sahara. Spending time in
Rissani, Iseek to translte the sense of place of this small Sahariyan
town, we guide you to which focuses on the life of a small town next
to the Dunes.The people of Rissani, the quotidian life of the town,
the surrounding dwellings and the Sahara itself are all the subject of
this tour.Ms.ABDELLAH capture intimate vignettes of life, often
inaccessible or overlooked by tourists, providing an intimate
experience of a special place. We discovers the rhythms of everyday
life showing families, the local architecture, The historic monuments
of Sijilmassa, workers and merchants in the rural Souk. its people and
their way of life.

The Sahara unfold next to Rissani and part of experiencing the great
desert is encountering the Nomads who live and travel through the
Sahara . the power of the desert , its changing light
,colors,temperature and blowing sand reshaping the dunes, are powerful
elements of the environment. The Dunes of Erg Chibbi and the flat
desert floor surrounded by many other dunes, 30 minutes from Rissani,
are beautiful and dominate the landscape .

Rissani has been transformed by modern life , but remains a porr and
conservative spot in estern MOROCCO far from the larger sophisticated
northern cities of Marrakesh an Casablanca. its history is illustrious
but little remains visible exeept crumbling ruins of Sijilmassa.
Between757-1400 Sijilmassa, was the site of the kingdom of the
south,the capital of a virtually indepenndent Islamic principality in
the early days of the Arab conquest of North Africa.The city thrived
and the greatest wealth came from its location, the last stopping
point on the caravan routes south .Carvans, sometimes as large as
20,000 camels, stopped here to trade gold for slaves (Souk
Sijilmassa).

Today Rissani continues as an important center for trade but edon a
considerably reduced scale. Its large Souk sells all variety of
animals, products and produce. There are individual markets within the
Souk for the sale of sheep, goats, mules and donkeys, the traditional
transport of goods and people . Fresh fruit and vegetables brighten
the Souks aisles along with stacks of spices in assored colors.
Clothes, shoes and backpacks hang from horizontal bars attached to
stalls drawing in the eye of the shopper. Rissani and its Souk retain
their historie relationship to the desert, since in addition to
locals, Nomads converge at the thriceweekly Souk, after travling long
distances for the benefits of the size and specialties of the Souk.

The center of Rissani has simple modern tow and three story apartment
buildings. The historie architecture can be seen along the circuit
road outside the center of town , on the Route Touristique de Rissani.
The Kour, large fortress-like square or rectangular interconnected
structures built with towers, simple crenellation, tall entrance
gates, and interior doors of paited metal with decorative swirls of
relief work or plain metal are visible from the road The structures
are earth colored from building withe a combination of dirt, mud, sand
and straw made into free forms or bricks. In this rural part of the
country, a Ksar, a single Kour, is a much-simplified version of the
high style buildings you see to the north and west. The historie Ksar
is home to many people on a scale comparable to a village.
Written March 18, 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

MOROCCO
Rabat, Morocco30 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2013 • Friends
its very important to viset Souk Rissani , you can find all what you need silver carplt scarfs...........
Written July 9, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Khamlia
Sweden20,048 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2013 • Solo
It is the best souk I've seen in Morocco, the most authentic souk, for local people, not touristic. I love going there around and look at everything that is there. There are three souk where, one with just vegetables and foods could say. The second is the combination of everything. From vegetables to meat and clothing to furniture and dishes. And third with sheep and donkeys but also cow I saw there, missing only camels there :).
It is bursting with life there, everyone comes and buys and explores, and haggle too, because it belongs to when you go shopping in the souk. Sometimes it's really tight with both buyers and sellers running back and forth. Really fun and interesting experience.
Written September 9, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Anna
Bacchus Marsh, Australia611 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2013 • Solo
If you are visiting Merzouga and Erg Chebbi, you will pass through the town of Rissani.
Take some time to visit the Rissani Souq. This local souq is a great place to see life away from the usual tourist centres. Infact there is the undercover souq and another open air produce market a five minute walk away, as well as the usual roadside traders. A small number of shops sell local handmade rugs, blankets, mats, Berber shawls and other handcrafts; These are made at various outlying kasbahs and villages and brought to Rissani souq for sale at reasonable prices.

The best days to visit are the main market days when all the farmers come to town; Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, although it is open every day.
Written March 11, 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sandra n
Sun City, AZ1,240 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2018 • Couples
Before going out to the Sahara desert, we spent some time stopping in Rissani, Morocco. Enter through their beautiful gate and we visited the Souk or Souq of Rissani where you will see very authentic Moroccan local flavor here. We had a local guide drawing our attention to Moroccan specialties. We were able to step behind the scene at a great bakery and see how they make that delicious bread and the sample while still warm was so good! Enjoyed this souk in a special delightful way. So glad we had a chance to stop here.
Written May 26, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

William Kwon
San Francisco, CA80 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2018 • Family
We had a much better time at this souk compared to any other souks in all the big cities we visited in Morocco. This is by far the most authentic experience with the locals visiting the market. Although we went around 2pm, there were people still working there. We heard that it's very busy with the locals shopping in the morning. There's even a parking lot for the donkeys!
Written December 2, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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