The El Badii Palace was built between 1578 and 1603 by Saadian Sultan Ahmed Al mansour Dhahbi. It means the Incomparable Palace. At the time it was considered the most majestic palace in the entire Kingdom with many treasures in each of the ~360 rooms with a courtyard of ~135 m by 110 m and a large pool of 90m by 20m. It was richly decorated with Italian marble and large amounts of gold imported from Sudan, ivory, Italian marble, semi-precious stones and cedar wood. Visitors to the palace will still be able to walk through the courtyard with its large pools and sunken gardens, even though the fountains that once graced this courtyard are no longer there. It also has a small, underground, tunnel-like jail with about four cells where the king kept his prisoners.

In 1696, the Sultan at the time Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail, took all the wealth at El Baadi Palace and founded Meknes.

So today, there’s just a large courtyard dotted with olive and orange trees. Open 7 days a week from 8:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. and 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Entrance fee: 10 dirhams.