Rajeev's World: The Brilliance Of Marrakech... Part I

The next stop on my discovery of Marrkech is the Palais Bahia, or the "palace of brilliance"...

The gates of Palais Bahia...

Palms tower over us at the gate...

And cats merrily play around...

We make our way into the premises of Palais Bahia...

A layout of the Palais Bahia...

Palais Bahia is one of the best-preserved historical sites in Marrakech, and is set over two acres in the middle of the Marrakech medina and has 150 rooms. Building of the palace commenced in 1866 and it was built over a 15-year period. The first phase of construction was led by Si Moussa, the Grand Vizier of the Sultan, Sidi Mohammed ben Abd al Rahman. The second phase was driven by his son Bou Ahmed, vizier of Sultan Moulay Abd al-Aziz.

Si Moussa had an interesting story - he was a former black slave who climbed the ranks, rising to power. In 1894 he managed to wrest complete control over the state and then passed on the reign to his son.

Construction of the palace continued under his son, Bou Ahmed, who used it to accommodate his four wives and twenty-four concubines. As the palace was built over such a long period of time, the architecture and layout are very irregular. The palace was expanded as land became available.

It was during Bou Ahmed’s reign that the brilliance of the palace was greatly enhanced with the addition of lush gardens and the small riad (traditional Moroccan house with a garden, with a central fountain and rooms surrounding it)...

Following Bou Ahmed’s death in 1900, it is said that the palace was ransacked and all valuables were removed. With the arrival of the French colonists in the early 1900s, the residents were forced to move out to make way for the French Resident General...