I went to the Palais el-Badi today, which are the remains of a 16^th century palace (el-Badi, ‘the Incomparable’ is one of the 99 names of Allah, the Muslim name God). It was built by Ahmed el-Mansour, ‘The Glorious’, after beating the Portuguese. In its day, the palace was considered one of the wonders of the Muslim world, italian marble, irish granite, gold leaf, etc decorating the walls f the 360(!!) rooms.  A later ruler, wanting to do his own thing and assert his power, demolished most of the palace and salvaged the materials to build his own super imperial palace in Meknès. It was wonderful being able to wander wherever, including some very sketchy underground passageways. (As Peter said, they’d never let you do this in the US, for fear of lawsuits!) There was also an incredible example of medieval wood working (no pix allowed). A ‘minbar’ (a stepped pulpit, about 12 ft tall, from which the imman would give his sermon) from the Koutoubia Mosque (the main mosque in Marrakech) nearly 1000 years old! It has beautiful inlays and woodworking details. Ms Abraham would have loved it!

We also visitied the Saadian Tombs, the burial ground for the Saadian Dynasty (both here & the palace were in very un-touristy areas, which was nice. This area of the Medina was bustling, but much less ‘tourist’ intense than the main square and the souks),  The main mausoleum is that of Ahmed el-Mansour, the ruler who built the palace we visited.  The tombs house what are considered some of the finest examples of Islamic architecture in Morocco. It has been a necropolis since the Almohad period (1145-1248) but the tombs themselves date from the late 16^th century.