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The mosque of the golden apples, also known as El Mansour’s mosque or the Kasbah’s mosque, is located on the right side of Bab Aguenaou, one of the old doors of Marrakech, inside the Kasbah.

The name of the mosque itself tells a legend. It was known initially as “the mosque of El Mansour”, because it was the king Yakoub El Mansour who built it in the XIIth century. In 1569, an explosion led to the reconstruction of the mosque that was renamed “the mosque of the golden apples”, referring to the golden copper balls that are on the top of the lantern of its minaret, and which are said to be made from the gold of the jewels of El Mansour’s wife, as it was the case for the Koutoubia.

The mosque shelters a prayers room and eleven naves. It’s 80 meters long, and has a fabulous minaret taken as an example in classical architecture. It’s decorated with multicoloured tiles, and interlacing rhombuses in turquoise.

The mosque of golden apples is the second oldest mosque in Marrakech. At its end, there is the entry of the Saadians’ tombs.

El Mansour’s mosque contains also the “Medersa” which is one of the most interesting monuments of the city. This Quranic school used to gather around 900 pupils in only 132 rooms. Its rooms are decorated with marble, cedar and mosaic. The Medersa was closed for a long time, and then opened after restorations. It’s only since almost ten years that it became possible to visit it again.

Many monuments remaining from the Al Moravides reign, such as: The Koutoubia mosque, the Kasbah, the mosque of the golden apples, the monumental doors, the gardens and many others, make of the medina of Marrakech a part of the world’s inheritance enumerated by the UNESCO.