El Badi Palace

El Badi was built at the end of the sixteenth century by the Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur and was, by every account of it, extravagant: Italian marble, gold, onyx, and a central court with a huge pool and four sunken gardens. About a century later it was systematically stripped, its materials carted north to build Meknes, and what remains is the plan rather than the palace - vast pisé walls, empty pavilion platforms, the sunken gardens still planted with orange trees, and a series of underground passages and cellars you can walk through. Storks nest on the highest walls and are visible year after year in the same places. The ramparts can be climbed for a view over the whole rectangle and across the medina to the Atlas.

History

The Saadian sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib was the first to build a palace here, at the north edge of the old Almohad kasbah, and Ahmad al-Mansur began El Badi in December 1578, a few months after he came to the throne, paying for it, it is thought, with the Portuguese ransom of that year and the wealth of the sugar trade. Al-Ifrani says the work took fifteen years and ended in 1593, but a Portuguese plan of 1585 already shows the palace complete, and al-Mansur was still buying marble in 1602, the year before his death, so the building was probably done by the early 1580s and embellished for the rest of his reign. Workers and artisans came from many lands, Europe among them, a market grew up beside the site, and marble columns were made in Italy; after al-Mansur died in 1603 the palace was neglected, and its materials, above all the marble, were later stripped for buildings across Morocco (Wikipedia, El Badi Palace).

What you'll find

• The sunken gardens - orange trees growing well below the level of the central court.
• The stork nests - large nests built on the top of the ruined pisé walls.
• The underground passages - cellars and service corridors running beneath the courtyards.
• The rampart walk - a raised circuit with the Atlas visible on clear days.

When to go

Late afternoon is best for light and for storks returning to the nests. The site is entirely open with no shade, so summer midday is punishing. It is quieter than Bahia Palace at almost every hour, and the whole visit is outdoors, so avoid it in rain.

Before you go

There is very little left to look at in detail - this is a large empty rectangle, and visitors expecting a furnished palace leave disappointed within twenty minutes. The ground is uneven and the rampart stairs are steep and unrailed. Signage is thin. In summer the reflected heat off the pisé walls is severe and there is nowhere to sit in shade.

Nearby

The Saadian Tombs and the kasbah mosque are a few minutes away; Bahia Palace is a short walk north.

Key facts