Although dilapidated ruins of once-grand riad homes can be found around almost every corner, the Moroccan government has recently been investing more money into restoring the medina, which today is considered one of the best-preserved historical towns in the Arab-Muslim world. It is also considered to be one of the world’s largest car-free urban areas, where donkeys and carts are the main modes of transporting goods through the narrow, hilly streets.

A short walk around the medina reveals intricately carved Islamic calligraphy and mesmerising zellige mosaics – individually chiselled tiles placed in geometric patterns – that line the walls of mosques, Koranic schools and mausoleums. However, one building, which sits in the medina’s heart, is particularly intriguing to visitors.