After lunch we visited the Bahia Palace and gardens. A grand masterpiece of Moroccan architecture built over a period of 14 years in the 19th century. A beautiful building that is mainly used for tourist visits. The large decorated rooms with mosaics and carved woodwork and the designs around the windows and doors was beautiful.
The building was commissioned by SI Moussa in the second half of the 19th century. It is said that he was a remarkable man who ascended into his lofty position from humble beginnings of a slave. The palace has a long and coloured history. The Palace has largely been restored and today it is mainly used by the Moroccan Royal family to house visiting dignitaries.
The gardens used a watering system that gave a maximum benefit for the plants.
Then it was off to lunch in a very nice restaurant inside the souk. Everywhere was so busy and we had to be really careful not to step into the path of a motor scooter also using the narrow streets as they had no regard for pedestrians and were usually going too fast to avoid you if you got in there way. Such noisy little vehicles too and there were hundreds of them.
A vegetable tagine and cous cous with beans and chicken for lunch.
These photos have downloaded out of order and we are now back at the Palace. There were many orange trees in the courtyard. The trunks and branches were all painted white which apparently deters insects invading the tree.
An artist refreshing the paintwork on an exterior wall in the courtyard.
Then it was time to venture into the famous souk of Marrakech. Busy busy busy with shoulder to shoulder people inside the narrow lanes but on the centre square outside there was a little more room to wander around.
This stork had taken up residence above the palace. They build huge nests.
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