El Badi Palace

About this place

El Badi Palace — "The Incomparable" — owes its existence to a single day of warfare that reshaped Morocco's destiny. On August 4, 1578, the Battle of the Three Kings near Ksar el-Kebir saw the death of all three monarchs involved, including Ahmad al-Mansur's brother. Ahmad inherited the Saadian throne and used the massive Portuguese ransom payments to fund what would become one of the most ambitious construction projects in the Islamic world. Work began in late 1578 and continued for roughly 25 years, with materials sourced globally: Carrara marble from Italy, gold from Sudan, onyx from Algeria, and jade from China. The completed palace featured approximately 360 rooms arranged around a vast courtyard measuring 135 by 110 meters, with a reflecting pool nearly 90 meters long. Guests at its opening reportedly called it the eighth wonder of the world. Yet its glory was short-lived. After Ahmad al-Mansur's death in 1603 triggered a 25-year civil war, the palace fell into neglect. In 1707–1708, Sultan Moulay Ismail ordered it systematically stripped to build his new capital at Meknes, leaving only the haunting skeletal walls that stand today.