The story — Bahia Palace
Bahia means “the brilliant one” — a fitting name for a palace begun by grand vizier Si Moussa in the 1860s and then greatly enlarged by his son Ahmed ben Moussa, known as Ba Ahmed, roughly between 1894 and 1900.
Ba Ahmed brought in master craftsmen from Fès and Marrakech: riads planted with orange trees and jasmine follow one another, reception rooms are crowned with painted cedar ceilings, and the great courtyard, paved in marble and zellige, is lined with wooden galleries.
The Bahia Palace has no museum collection, because the palace itself is the masterpiece: an open-air showcase of Moroccan craftsmanship at its height, and one of the most visited sites in Marrakech.
Don’t miss
- The great marble courtyard
- Painted cedar ceilings
- Riads of orange trees and jasmine
- The grand council hall
Photos
Some photos are illustrative.
