Art, craft & heritage

A vizier’s palace.
A Marrakech landmark.

The story of Bahia Palace, from the residence of two grand viziers to a monument open to visitors in the medina.

The Grand Courtyard of Bahia Palace with its painted galleries — The Grand Courtyard and its painted galleries.

A residence for a vizier

Bahia Palace was begun in the second half of the 19th century by Si Moussa, a grand vizier at the Moroccan court. It grew around courtyards and gardens in the south-east of the medina.

A garden path between orange trees and palms at Bahia Palace

Ba Ahmed’s palace

His son Ba Ahmed, grand vizier to Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz, greatly enlarged it between 1894 and 1900, adding apartments, courtyards and gardens. Craftsmen worked in painted cedar, carved stucco and zellij.

After 1900

After Ba Ahmed’s death in 1900 the palace passed to the sultan. Under the French protectorate it housed the Resident-General, and today it is a historic monument open to visitors. In 2016 it hosted the opening of the sixth Marrakech Biennale.