Jardins & Palaces

Built between 1866 and 1900 by Grand Vizier Si Moussa and his son Ba Ahmed, who intended it to be the greatest palace of its time. 'Bahia' means 'brilliance.' Ba Ahmed employed the finest craftsmen from Fez for the zellige tilework, carved cedarwood, and painted zouak ceilings. The palace has 150 rooms, though only a fraction are open to visitors. Ba Ahmed built separate quarters for each of his four wives and 24 concubines. When he died in 1900, the sultan's court looted the palace of its furnishings within days. The French made it their Resident General's headquarters during the Protectorate.

The large riad courtyard with its central marble fountain and orange trees is the most photogenic space. Go early morning to avoid tour groups that fill it by 10 AM.

The ruins of what was once called 'the Incomparable' — a lavish palace built by Saadian Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur in 1578 using gold ransomed from the Portuguese after the Battle of the Three Kings. It took 25 years and the labor of captive soldiers. Italian marble, Irish granite, Indian onyx, and Chinese tiles adorned 360 rooms. When the Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail seized power in 1683, he spent 12 years stripping it completely to furnish his own palace in Meknes. Today the monumental ruins — sunken gardens, massive walls, and stork nests on crumbling towers — are hauntingly beautiful.

The storks nesting on the ruined walls are an iconic sight — bring a zoom lens. The underground passages (kasbah tunnels) are open for exploration and refreshingly cool.