Morocco: Ali ben Youssef

Definitely on the short list of must-sees, this madrasa or Islamic college takes its name from the adjoining Mosque of Ali ben Youssef, named for an Almoravid sultan who ruled Marrakech from 1106 to 1142. His mosque, closed like all the others in Marrakech to non-Muslims, was the main mosque of the city until replaced by the Mouassin Mosque four centuries later. The madrasa itself, however, is later, built in the 14th Century by the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hassan. It was rebuilt by the Saadian Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib, who ruled from 1557 to 1574. At one time the biggest madrasa in Morocco, the madrasa was closed in 1960 and reopened to tourists in 1982. Size aside, its ornamentation is spectacular.