Si Musa, grand vizier to the Moroccan sultan, began the Bahia Palace in the 1860s. His son Ba Ahmed expanded it between 1894 and 1900. The article ties the architect Muhammad ibn Makki al-Misfiwi to the later works. It describes the style as Moorish, with painted cedar ceilings, carved stucco, zellij tilework and muqarnas.
It has around 150 rooms arranged around courtyards and riad gardens. The Grand Courtyard measures 164 by 98 feet (50 by 30 m) and is paved with Carrara marble. Materials came from across Morocco, including cedar from the Middle Atlas and tiles from Tetouan.
Ba Ahmed died in 1900, and the palace became royal property. In 1912 it became the French resident-general's residence. It later passed to the Ministry of Culture and is open to tourists. The 2023 earthquake damaged it, and it reopened that October.
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