Bahia Palace

Brief Information

Bahia Palace did not grow from a single blueprint, but through the purchase of neighboring plots. Because of this, the late-19th-century complex lacks a clear layout: it is easier to understand it as a sequence of added courtyards, rooms, and service areas rather than as a strictly symmetrical palace.

First, the northern part of Si Moussa’s palace appeared in the southeastern part of the Marrakesh medina; then his son Ba Ahmed expanded the southern part of the complex. After Ba Ahmed’s death, the palace was looted, but a few years later the French resident-general Lyautey restored it and made it his Marrakesh residence. Today the building is open to visitors; it hosts concerts of Arab-Andalusian music and art exhibitions.

What to Notice First

The main focus of a visit is precisely how disparate parts are assembled into a single palace complex. You can compare the fountains and the garden with cypresses, jasmine, orange, and banana trees with more utilitarian elements: the stable, mosque, and hammam. This juxtaposition shows that Bahia was not only a ceremonial palace, but also a large inhabited area with different functions.

Inside, it is worth noticing the finishing materials: marble, ceramic tile, zellij, and cedar. They are important not only as decoration. The marble was brought from Meknes, the cedar from the Middle Atlas, and the terracotta from Tetouan. The most intriguing material here is the marble: before Bahia, it may already have adorned the palace of Moulay Ismail or El Badi Palace. In this way, the decoration reads not as a new set of expensive surfaces, but as something with an earlier palace biography.