Speak Moroccan Arabic

The ‘Chrob ou chouf’ fountain is named after an engraved Moroccan Arabic inscription on it, and which means ‘drink and look’, or more exactly ‘drink and admire’.

The fountain was built during the reign of Ahmed El Mansour (1587 – 1603). It is located near the Ben Youssef mosque at the heart of the medina of Marrakech, just before arriving to Bab Taghzout’s street.

The fountain was made with just a loggia and a trough in masonry. Its upper part is of a great dimension, with a frontage that is protected with an awning in carved cedar, having zelliges polychrome and inscriptions in cursive or coufic characters engraved in wood. Consoles in muqarnas support the large lintel that has an inscription in Andalusian calligraphy that is very similar to that of the Mouassine fountain. The crowning of the fountain is made of wood with the form of a honeycomb. The whole is covered with a pitched roof which is also covered with varnished green tiles.

Like many other fountains, the ‘chroub ou chouf’ fountain was constructed to fulfil the town’s needs in terms of water, considering its concerns in this regard, given it geographical position near the Sahara valleys. Building fountains is also done with religious motivations: following the Quran’s recommendations on providing water to thirsty people. There was an underground grid of drains which served the fountains, but also the dwellings and the mosques.

The restoration of the fountain was completed on September 25, 2000, with the presence of the duchess Von Habsbourg, president of the Art Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH) who inaugurated the event.

This Saadian fountain, being the most beautiful of the medina, was classified, since 1985, among the world’s cultural inheritance by the UNESCO.