Timeline

Moments in a longer story.

Selected milestones in the history of Marrakech and the royal burial complex of the Saadian dynasty.

The historic chambers of the Saadian Tombs
On this page

City, dynasty and monument

These dates describe the places you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Saadian Tombs.

  1. 1070–72

    Marrakesh is founded

    UNESCO dates the city’s Almoravid foundation to this period.

  2. 1557

    A burial place for Muhammad al-Shaykh

    The Ministry of Culture dates the creation of the necropolis by Abdallah al-Ghalib for his father to this year.

  3. 1574

    Abdallah al-Ghalib is buried here

    The Ministry’s monument history records the sultan’s burial in the complex.

  4. 1591

    The burial of Lalla Messaouda

    Ahmad al-Mansur buries his mother at the site and expands the architectural complex, according to the Ministry’s account.

  5. 1917

    The monument is rediscovered

    The Ministry records its rediscovery by the Fine Arts and Historic Monuments Service.

  6. 1985

    The Medina joins the World Heritage List

    UNESCO inscribes the Medina of Marrakesh. This designation concerns the Medina; it is not an accreditation of this independent service.

Follow the stories behind the dates

A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the original institutional sources provide further context.

Read at the source

Sources & further reading

Links lead to the original publishers. They do not imply affiliation with or endorsement of Saadian Tombs.

Photography credits

Displayed crops and responsive resizing; colours and content unchanged. Image adaptations retain their original image licence.