Da Cipriano · Places & Stories · Marrakech
Riad Le Rihani Marrakech
A place to rest, to feel, to belong.
A city I keep returning to
Marrakech has been part of my world for more than a decade. I have returned again and again — drawn by its colours, its light, its architecture, its scents and, above all, by the extraordinary atmosphere that seems to exist nowhere else in quite the same way.
For me, Marrakech has never simply been a destination. It is a place that stimulates the imagination. A city in which contrasts live side by side: silence and movement, simplicity and opulence, ancient walls and unexpected beauty. Every return has brought new impressions, new photographs and new ideas.
And then there are the people. Warm encounters, conversations, humour, hospitality and those small moments that cannot really be planned. They are part of the reason Marrakech has continued to inspire me for so many years.
It is no wonder that Marrakech has long attracted artists, designers, photographers and other creative minds. The city seems to heighten the senses: colour becomes more intense, light more dramatic and textures more alive.
Yves Saint Laurent is perhaps one of the best-known examples. His deep connection with Marrakech became part of the city’s modern creative identity. In my own way, I understand that fascination very well. Marrakech invites you to look differently — and sometimes that is exactly where new ideas begin.
Riad Enija and the Marrakech of my memories
For many years, there was one address in Marrakech to which I always returned: Riad Enija.
It became connected with an entire period of my creative life. Marrakech provided the setting for photographs, artistic ideas and projects, including a shooting in the city and chapters connected with the Moscow Ballet.
There was theatre, music, imagery and that special feeling Marrakech develops after sunset — warm light, shadows, mystery and movement. That atmosphere also found its way into my own creative work.
One of those works was Im Zauber der Nacht . Its world of night, imagination and atmosphere feels inseparable from the kind of inspiration Marrakech has always awakened in me.
Riad Enija belonged to that time. It was more than somewhere to sleep between days in the Medina; it became part of the memories themselves.
Riad Enija no longer exists in the form in which we knew it. Places change. Chapters close. But the impressions they leave behind remain.
Finding Le Rihani
Perhaps that is why discovering a new place in Marrakech that immediately felt right meant so much to us.
Riad Le Rihani has a quietness that is difficult to manufacture. Behind the walls of the Medina, rooms open onto greenery, water, old wood and soft light. There is elegance here, but it never feels formal. Everything remains relaxed.
We felt welcome from the beginning — not simply because the Riad is beautiful, but because of the people who give it its atmosphere.
Terracotta. Amber light. Emerald green.
Warm walls · cool water · gardens above the Medina
Another Marrakech above the rooftops
The rooftop is one of those places where time seems to slow down. Flowers, palms and quiet corners look out over the rooftops of Marrakech.
Morning light is soft here. Later, the heat begins to disappear, the sky changes colour and the city below slowly moves towards evening.
It is exactly this rhythm that I love about Marrakech: intensity outside, stillness only a few steps away.
A place to rest
Our room carried the colours of Marrakech inside: deep terracotta walls, warm wood, soft lamps and the glow of a traditional ceiling above the bed.
After a day among the streets, gardens and sounds of the city, it became exactly what we wanted it to be — somewhere quiet, personal and uncomplicated.
A place to rest. To feel. And, for a few days, simply to belong.
Details become memories
The pool in the morning. Dinner beneath the trees. Bougainvillea against the Marrakech skyline. A quiet corner on the rooftop. Often it is the smallest detail that stays with us longest.
When evening settles over the courtyard
Evening at Le Rihani has its own rhythm. As the heat of the day slowly fades, tables are set beside the water and beneath the trees, and the courtyard becomes wonderfully calm.
Dinner was one of the pleasures of our stay. Beautifully prepared Moroccan dishes — from a fragrant tagine to tanjia, the slow-cooked speciality so closely associated with Marrakech — arrived at the table with a service that was warm, attentive and thoroughly professional.
What we particularly enjoyed was the atmosphere around us. Even the encounters with other guests were relaxed and friendly. Nothing felt hurried or noisy. Conversations remained soft, the birds continued to sing somewhere in the courtyard and, from time to time, the call of the muezzin drifted across the rooftops of the Medina.
The sound of water, birdsong, distant voices and the call to prayer mixed with the scents coming from the kitchen and the warm evening air. These were not separate impressions anymore. Together they became part of the evening — unmistakably Marrakech.
And so, another chapter begins
After more than ten years of returning to Marrakech, it is rather wonderful that the city can still surprise us.
Riad Enija will always belong to an earlier chapter of my Marrakech story. The photographs, the creative projects, the nights in the Medina and the memories remain.
But journeys continue. And we are genuinely happy to have found Riad Le Rihani — a place with warmth, character and wonderful people, and somewhere we already know we would be very happy to return to.
Marrakech continues to inspire me, just as it has for so many years. Perhaps that is its greatest magic: however familiar it becomes, it never quite reveals everything.
Riad Le Rihani
52 Derb El Arsa · Kenaria District
40000 Marrakech Medina · Morocco
