El Badi Palace

قصر البديع

A ruined palace with stork nests and wall-top views

Hours

Daily 09:00–17:00 (Wikivoyage); confirm on the day

Tickets

Foreign adults 100 MAD, ages 7–13 50 MAD, bought on site

Address

Gate in the walls beside Place des Ferblantiers (Ksibat Nhass)

True to its name, 'the incomparable', Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur built it in the late 1500s with gold and Italian marble. A century later Sultan Moulay Ismail stripped anything useful and hauled it off to Meknes, leaving mud walls, empty pools and orange trees. What you get instead is open sky and storks nesting on every wall top. Climb to the terrace for views over medina roofs and, on clear days, the Atlas.