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Morocco.
Marrakech.

Lonely Planet review.

Imagine what you could build with Morocco’s top artisans at your service for 14 years, and here you have it: the Bahia Palace. Located near Place des Ferblantiers, La Bahia (The Beautiful) boasts floor-to-ceiling decoration begun by Grand Vizier Si Moussa in the 1860s and further embellished in 1894–1900 by slave-turned-vizier Abu ‘Bou’ Ahmed. The painted, gilded, inlaid woodwork ceilings still have the intended effect of subduing crowds, while the carved stucco is cleverly slanted downward to meet the gaze.

Morocco.
Marrakech.

From the Rough Guide.

By far the most ambitious and costly of the mansions north of the Mellah was the Bahia Palace, originally built in 1866–7 for Si Moussa, a former slave who had risen to become grand vizier.

Visitors enter the palace from the west, through an arcaded courtyard which leads to a small riad (enclosed garden), part of Bou Ahmed's extension. The riad is decorated with beautiful carved stucco and cedarwood, and salons lead off it on three sides. The eastern salon leads through to the council room, and thence through a vestibule – where it's worth pausing to look up at the lovely painted ceiling – to the great courtyard of Si Moussa's original palace. The rooms surrounding the courtyard are also all worth checking out for their painted wooden ceilings.

South of the great courtyard is the large riad, the heart of Si Moussa's palace, fragrant with fruit trees and melodious with birdsong, approaching the very ideal of beauty in Arabic domestic architecture. To its east and west are halls decorated with fine zellij fireplaces and painted wooden ceilings. From here, you leave the palace via the private apartment built in 1898 for Ahmed's wife, Lalla Zinab, where again you should look up to check out the painted ceiling, carved stucco, and stained-glass windows.

Morocco.
Marrakech.

Fodor's La Bahia Palace Review

This 19th-century palace, once home to a harem, is a marvelous display of painted wood, ceramics, and symmetrical gardens. Built by Sultan Moulay el Hassan I's notorious Grand Vizier Bou Ahmed, the palace was ransacked on Bou Ahmed's death, but you can still experience its layout and get a sense of its former beauty. Don't forget to look up at smooth arches, carved-cedar ceilings, tadlak (shiny marble) finishes, gibs (stucco plasterwork) cornices, and zouak painted ceilings. Fancy a room? Each one varies in size according to the importance of each wife or concubine. The entire palace is sometimes closed when the royal family is in town, since their entourage often stays here.

Morocco.
Marrakech.

From Stay.com.

On the northern edge of the Mellah is the Bahia Palace. If you've read Gavin Maxwell's Lords of the Atlas this place will mean much more to you but even if you haven't, its shady courtyards and blue mosaic walls make a pleasant break from the hot bustling streets outside.

The palace was built principally by Bou Ahmed, a powerful vizier to the royal court in the 1890s and a man of 'no particular intelligence, but of indomitable will, and cruel' (Morocco That Was, Walter Harris: 1921). Entered via a long garden corridor, it's a delightful collection of paved courtyards, arcades, pavilions and reception halls with vaulted ceilings. The walls are decorated in traditional Moroccan zelije tiling, with sculpted stucco and carved cedarwood doors. The fireplace on your left as you enter is quite impressive too. The palace includes extensive quarters that housed Bou Ahmed's four wives and twenty-four concubines. On Bou Ahmed's death - probably poisoned by the sultan's mother, along with his two brothers - the palace was completely looted by Sultan Abdel-Aziz.

Caravans of donkeys staggering under the weight of furniture, carpets and crates made their way the short distance from the Bahia to the Royal Palace. Between then and now it served as the living quarters of the French resident generaux (Edith Wharton stayed here at this time, described in her In Morocco; 1927) and it's still occasionally used by the current royal family.

Morocco.
Marrakech.

From Journey Beyond Travel .

The Bahia Palace is both a palace and a set of gardens situated in the medina of Marrakech, Morocco, just along the northern edge of Mellah, also known as the Jewish Quarter. While the exact dates for the construction of this palace are not known, records indicate that it was commissioned between 1859 and 1873. It was completed in 1900.

The construction was the work of a father and son, Si Moussa and Ba Amed. The two were vizirs to Alawid Sharifs, Moroccan sultans. The name Bahia means “brilliance.” The building incorporates beautiful and intricate stucco work and a form of polychrome mosaic known as zellij (or zellige), which was topped by painted, inlaid woodwork ceilings.

It was intended to serve the personal uses of the sultan. In fact, the palace also bore the name of one of his wives. His harem was housed here, and it included an enormous court decorated with a central basin with the concubines dwelling in a series of surrounding rooms. The whole complex is quite large, covering eight hectares. It is comprised of a series of walled gardens, pavilions and courtyard structures arranged in various scales.

Several fountains, along with orange, cypress, jasmine and banana trees, decorate the older part of the Bahia palace known as Dar Si Moussa. In fact, this section is but a small portion of the overall complex. There are many ornate features, including decorative rooms with ceramic tiles.

The newer parts of the palace, those built by Ba Ahmed, were intended to surpass the architectural achievements of his father. In fact, he added several additional sections to the palace that constitute its larger and rather irregular layout. He also employed master architects like al-Hajj Muhammed bin Makki al-Misfiwi to create and decorate some of the bigger apartments. Yet, much of the wealth and fine furnishings were stripped away when Ba Amed died in 1900 and the sultan at the time, Mawlay Abd al-Aziz, raided the palace.

Today, the Bahia Palace is still being used by the Moroccan government as a formal venue for receiving special guests and foreign dignitaries. Additionally, a section of the palace is occupied by the Moroccan Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Visitors to Marrakech should find it fairly easy to walk to the medina in order to tour the palace complex. It is truly a cultural treasure trove, offering glimpses of a Moroccan kingdom’s former opulence as well as its eye-catching craftsmanship.