Every time we turned a corner in the medina or stepped inside another souk in Marrakech, one of the first stalls that always caught my eye was the lights. Beautifully crafted works of art in iron, glass and bronze. Behind the stall, the artisan sat, gently tapping and cutting the metal to create the frame, rubbing and polishing the glass and attaching the fittings.
By day, the lamps reflected the sunlight in a thousand glints of colour and by night they turned even the poorest of stalls into a stage worthy of Shahrazad himself to weave another story beneath their magical light. From the tiny, coloured glass lanterns that adorned restaurant tables to the ornate, bejewelled chandeliers that hung from intricate tiled roofs in palaces, every lightshade it seemed was different.
This one is in the Bahia Palace and has a very strange udder thing going on.
This one is almost lost against the splendid burnished gold tiles of the Marrakech Museum.
From the simplest…
…to this beast which hangs in the Marrakech Museum but which we unfortunately didn’t see illuminated.
The lamps provide beautiful light in restaurants…
…and in rooftop bars.
It’s a good job there are luggage weight restrictions or our living room would now look something like this.
Andrea (Andy) Montgomery is a freelance travel writer and co-owner of Buzz Trips and The Real Tenerife series of travel websites. Published in The Telegraph, The Independent, Wexas Traveller, Thomas Cook Travel Magazine, EasyJet Traveller Magazine, you can read her latest content on Google+
Be the first to comment