Ben Youssef Madrasa
Saadian Quran school, once the largest in the Maghreb
Founded in 1564–65 by Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib on the site of an earlier Marinid madrasa, Ben Youssef once housed up to 800 students across 130 dormitory cells, making it the largest madrasa in North Africa. It closed as a school in 1960 and reopened as a historic monument; the latest restoration brought it back to the public in April 2022.
Location
MarrakechFAQs
It was a residential Quran school attached to the neighbouring Ben Youssef Mosque. Up to 800 students from across Morocco lived in 130 small cells around the central courtyard while studying Islamic law, theology and Arabic letters.