Tourist sites in Marrakesh reopened on Sunday, October 15, just over a month after an earthquake devastated the country on September 8.
According to moroccoworldnews.com, a statement from the Moroccan Culture Ministry said that historic monuments, including the Bahia Palace, Badi Palace, and the Saadian Tombs, were open to Moroccan and international tourists.
Following the announcement, tourists flocked to the reopened sites, with about 6 000 local and international tourists reportedly visiting the monuments between Sunday and Monday evening.
Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, who launched the restoration programme on the damaged sites last month, oversaw the reopening and was one of the first people to tour the reopened monuments.
After the earthquake, Morocco launched a US$12,7bn (R239bn) five-year-long programme to restore earthquake-affected regions. The restoration programme will continue to renovate these reopened monuments, restoring them to their former glory.
The country also launched a special fund to raise money to reconstruct affected areas. Morocco’s Central Bank Governor, Abdellatif Jouahri, announced that the fund raised over $1,2bn (R21,7bn) from individual donations and public and private institutions.
