El Badi Palace
Encyclopedia
El Badi Palace is located in Marrakech
, Morocco
, and these days it consists of the remnants of a palace commissioned by the Saadian Sultan
Ahmad al-Mansur in 1578. The building of the palace was financed by a ransom paid by Portugal after the Battle of Three Kings.
The original building is thought to have consisted of 360 rooms, a courtyard of 135 m by 110 m and a pool of 90 m by 20 m, richly decorated with Italian
marble
and large amounts of gold imported from Sudan
. It also has a small, underground, tunnel-like jail with about four cells where the king kept his prisoners.
The palace, which took approximately 25 years to construct, was torn apart in the seventeenth century by the Alaouite Sultan
Moulay Ismail, who used the material obtained from El Badi Palace to decorate his own palace in Meknes
.
The design of the palace was influenced by the Alhambra
in Granada.
In one of the refurbished pavilions, the Koutoubia minbar
is now on exhibition.
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, and these days it consists of the remnants of a palace commissioned by the Saadian Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Ahmad al-Mansur in 1578. The building of the palace was financed by a ransom paid by Portugal after the Battle of Three Kings.
The original building is thought to have consisted of 360 rooms, a courtyard of 135 m by 110 m and a pool of 90 m by 20 m, richly decorated with Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and large amounts of gold imported from Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. It also has a small, underground, tunnel-like jail with about four cells where the king kept his prisoners.
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Moulay Ismail, who used the material obtained from El Badi Palace to decorate his own palace in Meknes
Meknes
Meknes is a city in northern Morocco, located from the capital Rabat and from Fes. It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway. Meknes was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail , before it was relocated to Marrakech. The...
.
The design of the palace was influenced by the Alhambra
Alhambra
The Alhambra , the complete form of which was Calat Alhambra , is a palace and fortress complex located in the Granada, Andalusia, Spain...
in Granada.
In one of the refurbished pavilions, the Koutoubia minbar
Minbar
A minbar is a pulpit in the mosque where the imam stands to deliver sermons or in the Hussainia where the speaker sits and lectures the congregation...
is now on exhibition.
External links
- Page of the holy Qoran, "executed in the Mosque of the Al-Badi Palace in Marrakech, and finished on the 13th day of the month of Rab'ia in the year 1008 after the Hegira during the reign of Sultan Ahmed el-Mansour, father of moulay Zidan Abu Maali" retrieved on 20 December 2006)