Souk Eloustat Marrakech

Which souk in Marrakech sells wool, fabrics and wooden kitchen tools?

Souk Eloustat is the old trade souk of fabrics, wool and wooden utensils in the heart of the Marrakech Medina, in the lanes between Rahba Kedima, the spice square, and the wood turners of Souk Chouari, about 8 minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna. Here you find skeins of raw and dyed wool, bolts of cotton and sabra fabric, Berber blankets, and hand-carved wooden spoons, couscous bowls and kitchen tools, sold by the families who have worked these trades for generations. It's a working souk, used by Marrakchis as much as by travelers. Our Private Medina Walking Tour crosses this part of the souks on the way to the artisans' quarter, and our Private Souks Shopping Tour takes you to the wool and wood sellers we trust.

Private Souks Shopping Tour

Your own local guide, every day at 9 am or 2 pm, about 3 hours, with pickup at your riad.

Included a relaxing stop with a bottle of mineral water, a cup of mint tea and a small souvenir, all complimentary.

See prices and details on our Private Souks Shopping Tour page.

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The lane narrows and the smell changes. After the cumin and the dried roses of the spice square, it's sheep's wool, warm and a little greasy, hanging in thick skeins above the shop doors. A woman from an Atlas village sits on a step with a bag of yarn to sell. Next door, a man sands a wooden spoon on his knee, and the shavings fall on a pile of finished ladles. Our guests often say this is where the souk stops feeling like a market for tourists and starts feeling like a real town.

Visit Marrakech Medina, The Best Shopping and Walking Tour Company in Marrakech, has guided travelers through the souks since 2004. Our Medina walking tour is featured by Daniel Jacobs in The Rough Guide To Morocco, which says our guide “guarantees (unlike most guides) not to stop at any shops”. Our guiding is also Recommended By Rick Steves.

Choose your tour

• Who Can Walk You Through The Wool And Wood Souks? Our private walking tour, Jemaa el-Fna, the souks, the artisans' quarter, the Mellah and the herbalist.

• Where Can You Buy A Real Berber Blanket Or A Carved Wooden Bowl? Our private souks shopping tour, wool, fabrics, wood, leather and spices from the artisans.

• Where Does The Wool Of The Berber Rugs Go Next? Our private rug shopping tour, the dyers, weaving cooperatives, Beni Ourain, Azilal and kilims.

• Can Your Family Explore The Souks With Its Own Guide? All our tours are private, one guide, one group, one truly personal experience.

• Can You Visit The Wool Souk With A Guide Today? Last-minute private tours, often within the hour.

Where is Souk Eloustat and how do you get there?

Address Souk Eloustat, in the souks between Rahba Kedima and Souk Chouari, Medina, 40000 Marrakech, Morocco

Open Rahba Kedima And The Wool Souk On Google Maps

From the Café de France on Jemaa el-Fna, take the second street on the right, Derb Dabachi. After about 200 meters, turn left into Rue Biadine and follow it, then the little lane of Znikat Rahba, for about 400 meters until you reach Rahba Kedima, the spice square. The wool and fabric sellers, and further on the wooden utensils, start in the lanes on the north side of the square, toward Souk Chouari and the wood turners. The walk takes about 8 minutes. Few signs carry the old name, so ask for the wool sellers, “souf” in Darija.

• How Do You Walk From Jemaa El-Fna To The Wool Souk? about 600 meters, 8 minutes on foot

Phone maps lose their way in these lanes. Read Why Does Google Maps Get Lost Near The Spice Square?

How far is the wool souk from the monuments and other souks?

Each link opens the walking route on Google Maps, starting from Rahba Kedima at the edge of the souk.

• To Souk Semmarine, The Main Souk Street about 300 meters, 4 minutes

• To Souk Chouari, The Wood Turners about 400 meters, 6 minutes

• To Souk Haddadine, The Blacksmiths about 600 meters, 8 minutes

• To Souk Sebbaghine, The Dyers about 700 meters, 9 minutes

• To The Mouassine Mosque And Fountain about 500 meters, 7 minutes

• To Le Jardin Secret about 600 meters, 8 minutes

• To The Ben Youssef Medersa about 700 meters, 10 minutes

• To The Maison De La Photographie about 700 meters, 10 minutes

• To The Koutoubia about 1 km, 14 minutes

• To The Bahia Palace about 1.5 km, 20 minutes

Distances are approximate walking distances through the Medina.

Which riads are close to Souk Eloustat?

Many travelers stay in the riads of Rahba Kedima, Derb Dabachi and Kennaria, a few minutes from the wool and wood sellers. Each link opens the walking route from the riad to the spice square, at the edge of the souk. We pick our guests up at their riad, wherever it is in the Medina.

• From Riad Lalla Aicha In Rahba Lakdima about 2 minutes on foot

• From Riad Quenza In Rahba Lakdima about 3 minutes on foot

• From Riad Zarka On Derb Aarjane about 3 minutes on foot

• From Riad Andalla On Derb Zaari about 6 minutes on foot

• From Riad Hidden In Derb Dabachi about 6 minutes on foot

• From Riad Christina In Derb Dabachi about 7 minutes on foot

• From Riad Linda In Derb Dabachi about 7 minutes on foot

• From Riad L'Emir In Kennaria about 6 minutes on foot

• From Riad Touda In Kennaria about 7 minutes on foot

Walking times are approximate and depend on the exact entrance of each riad.

Are there wool and fabric souks near me in the Medina?

Many guests type “souks near me” on their phone the first morning. If you're staying near Jemaa el-Fna, Derb Dabachi, Kennaria or Rahba Kedima, the wool and fabric souks near you are only a few minutes away, and you can walk there without a taxi. Start from the spice square and follow the skeins of wool hanging above the shops. If your riad is in Mouassine, Bab Doukkala or the north of the Medina, the dyers of Souk Sebbaghine and the wood turners of Souk Chouari are even closer, and you can make a loop through the souks near you in under an hour. For opening hours before you go, see What Time Do The Souks Of Marrakech Open?

What is the story of the wool and wood trades?

For centuries, the souks of Marrakech were organized by trade, one lane or one square for each craft, so that buyers knew where to go and each guild, with its amin, its chosen master, could watch prices and quality. Wool came down from the Atlas and the plains around the city on mules and donkeys, raw, washed or already spun by the women of the villages. It was sold here, near the spice square, then went on to the dyers of Souk Sebbaghine, who colored it with indigo, saffron, henna and madder, and to the weavers who made djellabas, blankets, burnous capes and rugs.

The wooden utensils came from the same world. Spoons, ladles, bowls and couscous dishes were carved and turned in the workshops of the nearby wood souks, from local woods like citrus, olive, walnut and cedar, for every kitchen in the Medina. Many of these trades now share their lanes with sellers of souvenirs, but the wool sellers, the fabric shops and the wood carvers are still here, still working for the families of Marrakech. Read more about them in Who Are The Last Artisans Of The Marrakech Medina?

The whole Medina of Marrakech, with its souks and craft quarters, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What can you buy in Souk Eloustat?

• Wool yarn skeins of natural sheep's wool, cream, brown and black, and wool dyed with natural or synthetic colors, for knitting, weaving or decoration

• Berber blankets thick hanbel blankets and light wool throws, sometimes with pompoms and sequins, the handira wedding blankets of the Middle Atlas

• Fabrics by the meter cotton, linen, brocade for caftans and sabra, the shiny fabric often sold as “cactus silk”

• Wooden spoons and ladles mgharef in Darija, carved from citrus, olive or walnut wood, from tiny salt spoons to big couscous ladles

• Wooden bowls the gsaa, the wide wooden dish where couscous is rolled by hand, and smaller salad and olive bowls

• Kitchen tools wooden mortars, lemon squeezers, bread boards and spice boxes

• Pompoms and tassels in wool, for cushions, bags and keys

Pair your wool with a rug on our Best Carpets And Rug Shopping Tour In Marrakech, or see the colors being made in Where Is The Dyers' Souk Of Marrakech?

How do you spot real wool, real fabric and good wood?

• Wool or acrylic real wool feels slightly greasy and smells a little of sheep, acrylic is shiny, squeaks and feels cold. Ask to touch the inside of the skein

• The cactus silk story most “cactus silk” or sabra sold in the souks today is viscose, a fiber made from wood pulp, not from cactus. It can be beautiful, just pay for viscose, not for a miracle

• Handwoven or machine woven handwoven blankets have small irregularities on the edges and in the pattern, machine-made blankets are perfectly even

• Colors that run rub a damp white tissue on a dark or red fabric, if the color comes off, wash it alone at home

• Good wood a hand-carved spoon is heavy for its size, smooth inside the bowl, with the grain running along the handle. Avoid pieces with cracks near the handle

• Varnish kitchen spoons and bowls should be raw or oiled, not varnished or painted, if you plan to use them for food

• Thuya the dark, fragrant thuya boxes come from Essaouira, not from Marrakech. They're fine to buy here, but they're not local wood

For more ways to avoid surprises, read How Do You Avoid The Tourist Traps Of The Souks?

When is the best time to visit the wool souk?

• Mornings from about 9.30 am to noon, when the shops are open, the lanes are calm and the wool sellers from the villages arrive

• Late afternoon from 4 pm to 6 pm, busier, with Marrakchi families shopping after work

• Friday many shops close for a while around the midday prayer

• Winter from November to February, the best season for wool blankets and throws, when Marrakchis buy for the cold nights

What are our local tips for Souk Eloustat?

• Measure your sofa or bed before buying a blanket or throw

• Bargain with a smile the first price is an opening, fabrics and wool are sold by the meter or by weight, so ask the price per meter or per kilo

• Ask before you photograph the wool sellers and the wood carvers, most will say yes with a smile

• Wood travels well spoons and bowls are light and fit in your suitcase, wrap bowls in a blanket to protect them

• Ignore street helpers people who say a souk is “closed today” usually want to lead you to a shop

• Combine the walk spices in Rahba Kedima, leather in What Can You Find In Souk El Kebir? and the main street of What Is Souk Semmarine Like?

Explore every souk and quarter of the old city in our Marrakech Medina Guide, Souk By Souk, and when you're done, sit with a mint tea in Le Jardin Secret or watch the evening come over Jemaa El-Fna, Listed By UNESCO.

What Happens On A Real Tour With Us?

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Ready to discover the souks of Marrakech with a local? Book On WhatsApp for a fast reply, or use our Booking Form.

Who Wrote This Guide?

This guide was written by the Local Team of Visit Marrakech Medina, Marrakchis who were born and raised in the Medina and have guided travelers through its souks, squares and derbs since 2004. Our Medina walk is featured in The Rough Guide to Morocco, and our guiding is recommended by Rick Steves. Everything here comes from what we see and hear on our tours every day.

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Visit Marrakech Medina is an independent local specialist resource dedicated to discovering and understanding the Marrakech Medina. Our Marrakchi team has been guiding visitors through the Medina since 2004. We share firsthand local knowledge of its traditional souks, streets and derbs, neighbourhoods, historic gates, squares, monuments, artisan workshops, traditional crafts, architecture and everyday life. Our guides explore the history, geography, traditions and authentic character of the Medina, providing detailed information about the places, people and activities that make Marrakech's old city unique.

This guide is part of our coverage of the traditional souks and markets of Marrakech Medina.

Discover our full range of authentic Marrakech tours on our Visit Marrakech Medina homepage.