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Founded in 1070–72 by the Berber

imperial dynasty of Almoravids, Marrakesh

remained a political, economic and

cultural centre for a long period.

The Bahia Palace a big old house and a set of houses were

collected and converted into

palace in the late nineteenth century by the Moroccan architect El Mekki on behalf of the Grand Vizier Ba

Ahmed ben Moussa said Hmad (1841-

1900)

The Bahia Palace is located in the

medina of Marrakech along the northern edge

of the district Mellah or Jewish

quarter

Bahia, the late nineteenth

century palace of the Grand Vizier Ba Ahmed ben Moussa said Hmad (1841-

1900)

The small courtyard Four rooms

opening onto an open courtyard fully tiled with

marble and zellij (tiles) were the

private apartments of Ba Hmad; they were

transformed in the time of

Lyautey Room Officers

The small courtyard

The small courtyardThe Bahia Palace intended to be the greatest palace of its

time. The name means "brilliance"

The El Bahia Palace was built for Ahmed Ibn Moussa (or Ba Ahmed) between 1894 and 1900 in the Alawi style that was popular at the time. Craftsmen were brought from Fez to work on this monumental task which took approximately fifteen years to complete

The name ‘Bahia’ means ‘palace of the beautiful’ and

this would certainly seem

to fit the purpose of this

massive palace. There

are 160 different rooms in the palace

which are sprawled out in

an open, rambling fashion

It is said that the palace was built as a home for Ba Ahmed’s official concubines, and it has also been said that the importance or favor of each concubine increased along with the size of their bedroom

The beautiful building, El Bahia Palace in Marrakech, is an excellent example of Eastern Architecture from the 19th century that represents trends and standards of the wealthy who lived at that time, even though the detail may not be as rich as that found in earlier palaces

Sound: Riff Cohen - Marrakech 2017

Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Foişoreanu Sanda Negruțiu Copyright: All the images belong to their author

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuhttps://plus.google.com/+SandaMichaela