Starting as one thing ending as something else

A French villa in Casablanca turned into a hotel.

A former caravansary turned into a storage space. A caravansary was a place where merchants could come into the medina, leave their horses downstairs and stay over in rooms upstairs.

Exiting the caravansary- this is how the animals and their riders entered.

A school in Chefchaoun that has been converted to a library. Our guide attended school here so the transformation was fairly recent.

Looking into the children's library room.

A sultan's palace in Tangiers converted to a museum.

Fundook al-Najjariyyan built in 17th century in Fes. It was designed for the use of merchants and their animals.

Some vocabulary: this is a fundouk (same as caravansary), also called a riad (now many small hotels are called riad). It is now a museum of ancient wood implements and musical instruments.

The scales used to weigh merchandise were left in place, now all the upper rooms that served as boarding facilities for travelers are filled with everything made of wood.

The ceiling inside the carpet cooperative in Fes. The elements "hanging down" that look like stalactites are called muqarnas. This is a hallmark of Andalusian style, seen especially at the Alhambra.

Another fundook converted to a restaurant. The government in many of the Moroccan cities are trying to restore these buildings.

House or series of small houses converted to a hotel on the edge of the Sahara.

Doors to houses become doors to a cabinet.

A stall for horses and holding pen for slaves destined for America is now a souvenir and rug shop.

A market square in Marrakesh once served as the auction and gathering site for slaves from Africa destined to America. Morocco abolished slavery in 1794.

The big square in Marrakesh was the place where people were executed by beheading here until the 19th century. Now it's a gathering place for all ages, all nationalities including Moroccans. If you look closely at the center under the green umbrella you'll see the snake charmers and their snakes. I was rooting for the snakes to get blown away by the storm that came in shortly after I took this photo.