Glaoui Palace Fes

Dar Glaoui was built in the nineteenth century for the Glaoui family, the Atlas warlords who became the dominant power in southern Morocco under the protectorate and lost everything when it ended - and the building has been decaying since. It is enormous, something over a hundred rooms across several courtyards, harem quarters, stables, a hammam and gardens, and the state of it is the experience: painted cedar ceilings with the paint lifting, zellige with tiles missing, plaster carving crumbling, rooms open to the sky, and a couple of salons that have been kept up. A branch of the family lives in part of it and opens the rest to visitors informally, in exchange for a donation, with paintings and craftwork for sale. There is no ticket office, no lighting and no restoration programme of any consequence. It is the least polished historic house in Fes and, for some people, the most affecting.

What you actually see

• A hundred decaying rooms - courtyards, harem quarters, stables and a hammam.
• Ornament coming apart - lifting paint, missing zellige and crumbling plaster.
• An informal opening - the family living there showing visitors round for a donation.
• No restoration - the building simply going on as it is.

When to go

October to April. An hour. It opens when someone is there to open it.

Honest expectations

There is no ticket, no fixed hours and no guarantee it will be open. Floors and stairs are unsafe in places and there is no lighting. A donation is expected and art is offered for sale with some pressure. It is genuinely dilapidated - people expecting a restored palace should go elsewhere.

Nearby

The Batha museum is west; the Talaa Seghira runs north.