Church of the Holy Martyrs

The Church of the Holy Martyrs of Marrakech, built in 1928 to a design by French urban planner Henri Prost, is linked to the Christian presence in the city and to the memory of the five Franciscan friars martyred in 1220. Its architecture combines Moorish and Gothic influences, with horseshoe arches and geometric motifs that interact with the local context. Over time, it has become a point of reference for the community, while maintaining a certain fragmentation between church, convent, and parish.
The redevelopment and restoration project stems from the need to overcome this discontinuity, preserving the historical and symbolic value of the complex while restoring its urban centrality. The intervention is not limited to conservation, but reorganizes and connects the existing parts through a unified design that strengthens the overall identity of the place.
Inspired by European ecclesiastical complexes, the project uses the patio as an organizing and space-generating element. Two new patios, located to the north and south of the church, become true architectural devices of connection: not simple passageways, but spaces for interaction, rest, and contemplation. These constructed voids redefine the margins of the convent, re-establish the relationship with the parish building, and create a new main façade that represents the complex as a unified whole towards the city.

The patio system introduces a sequence of open and semi-open spaces that mediate between interior and exterior, between liturgical and community dimensions. The result is a continuous but articulated organism, in which each building retains its formal and functional autonomy while participating in a coherent architectural vision.
The redevelopment thus becomes a project of urban and symbolic recomposition: an intervention that reinforces the complex's vocation as a place of spirituality and encounter, restoring the Church of the Holy Martyrs to an active and recognizable role in contemporary Marrakech.