| Kasbah District Vacations and Luxury Travel Packages |
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The Bab Agnaou, constructed of bluish limestone, is considered the most beautiful gateway in Marrakech. It didn't serve for the defense of the city, having been instead the main portal to a well-fortified residential quarter that the Almohad sultan Yacoub el Mansour had built and that today encompasses the big Kasbah Mosque, the Saadian Graves, the el Badi Palace and the Dar el Makhzen, the present-day royal palace.
Hidden behind high walls on the south side of the Kasbah Mosque are the Saadian Graves (Tombeaux des Saadiens), an indeed magnificent necropolis from the era of the Saadian sultan Ahmed el Mansour (1578-1603).
In contrast to the Kasbah Mosque, the burial grounds are a museum and may be viewed by the public. Sultan Abdallah ElGhalib (1557-1574) had the first permanent tomb constructed. Ahmed el Mansour was the man ultimately responsible for the site being expanded into a necropolis in which all the rulers, family members and dignitaries of the Arabic Saadian Dynasty could be interred. Envious of their architecture, the Alawi sultan Moulay Ismail had the Saadis' palaces destroyed. He spared the graves, but had them surrounded by a high wall.
The complex houses two mausoleums. The first, just to the left of the entrance, is the largest and most beautiful, consisting of three halls. The prayer hall, with the mihrab (prayer niche), in which the Alawi ruler Moulay el Yazid (17901792) lies buried, was not originally intended for interments. The second room, named the Hall of Twelve Columns, houses the grave of the great Saadian sultan Ahmed el Mansour ( I 578-1603). It is among the most sumptuous structures Maghreb artisans and craftsmen ever created. Twelve columns of Carrara marble connected by horseshoe arches support a dome consisting of countless gilded rreuyaruas (prisms), creating an effect reminiscent of a crystal cave. In the third room, the Hall of the Three Niches, the sultan's children are interred; it is extraordinarily rich in ornamentation as well.
A pavilion in the cemetery garden shelters, among others, the grave of Lalla Messaouda, Ahmed el Mansour's mother.
The most costly of this ruler's ostentatious buildings was the nearby El Badi Palace, which was financed with the plunder from his raids on the gold city of Timbuktu. All that has been preserved of the 18-hectare (44 acres) palace complex are the peripheral wall, pavilion ruins, gardens and a subterranean dungeon, since for ten years during the 17th century, Moulay Ismail used the buildings as a "quarry" for his ambitious construction plans in Meknes. Today the grounds serve as a grandiose backdrop for the annual folkloric festival. Towards the end of spring, the best of Morocco's folklore groups can be seen for ten days of evening performances. Bordering the west side of the El Badi Palace is the Dar el Makhzen, the present-day royal palace, which, understandably enough, is not at all open to the public, but can of course be observed from a distance.
Located only a few hundred meters from the El Badi ruins is the Bahia Palace, which can be toured if Hassan II's servants don't happen to be staying there at the time. The palace was constructed at the close of the 19th century for Si Moussa, the grand vizier of Sultan Abd er Rahman. His son, Bou Ahmed, grand vizier of Sultans Abu Ali Hassan I and Abd el Azis, resided there as well. Later, the palace served for a time as the base of a protectorate's administration. The magnificent oriental edifice, which is concealed behind unassuming external walls, was erected in the course of seven years by one French and one Moroccan architect. It bears its appellation bahia (beautiful, lustrous) with every right: It features painstakingly landscaped riads (court gardens), loftly staterooms ornamented in Moorish style, a mirrored hall, a large harem court with adjoining garden and a refreshing blue-and-white-tiled palace mosque.
Departing the Bahia Palace, one can follow the signposts to the Dar Si Said Palace, which now houses the Museum of Moroccan Folk Art. This exquisite building was constructed at the end of the last century for Si Said, a vizier of Sultan Abou Ali Hassan. The four rooms of the ground floor contain exhibits of Berber jewelry, household articles, clothing and daggers, sabres and muzzle-loading guns.The upper floor, the main appeal of which is its splendid ceiling of carved wood, holds a wedding throne on which the bride of a wealthy man accepted her bridal gifts. The walls are hung with exquisite rugs from the main production regions including Chichaoua, Beni M'Guild, Rabat and Glaoua. At the rear of the grounds tall cedar gates are on display. Graced with arabesques and geometric ornamentation these gates come from kasbahs of the Dra Valley. |
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