Another popular tourist attraction located in the heart of Marrakech is El Badi Palace. The ruins of this palace were built by the Saadian king Ahmad al-Mansur back in 1578 to celebrate their victory over the Portuguese in the battle of the Three Kings. The remains are surrounded by the most beautiful sunken orange groves and in true Moroccan style you can find the typical mosaic tiles that have impressively lasted for centuries.
The remains of this ancient palace are undoubtably beautiful and it was interesting to see something from such an important time in history, even though it was badly damaged during several different wars. Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoyed my visit here, but it automatically went from a 6/10 to a 10/10 when we climbed the few steps up to the terrace.
One thing I regret not doing during my short Moroccan stay was not visiting the Atlas mountains or going to the Sahara (I really wanted a camel ride), but our stay simply wasn’t long enough. However, from the terrace of the El Badi Palace you get an amazing view of the Atlas mountains. If you look close enough, you can just about see the snowcapped mountain peaks in the photographs that I’ve inserted below, but honestly they just don’t do this spectacular view any justice. It was simply stunning .
We paid ten dirhams to enter, which is the equivalent of maybe one euro ( so basically nothing at all). I think you could pay an extra ten to access the museum but we were running on a tight schedule that day and just didn’t have the time. If I’m ever back in Morocco again, I’ll definitely be paying a visit to the actual Atlas mountains. You could say that this view was just a taster for the real deal. Also I plan on getting that camel ride through the Sahara, so it looks like that is high on my to do list too. 😛
Wanderingthemap94 