© Viault · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons The Saadian Tombs
Walled up for two centuries and rediscovered in 1917: you come mainly for one room - the chamber of twelve marble columns, viewed from the threshold. The rest is quickly walked through. Come at opening: the passage is narrow and the queue grows.
History & context
The Saadian necropolis took shape at the end of the 16th century, inside the Kasbah walls, near the mosque. The first mausoleum was raised by Sultan Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib in honour of his father, Mohammed ech-Cheikh, founder of the dynasty. It was Ahmed al-Mansour who turned it into a funerary ensemble on the scale of his reign, after his mother’s death.
Sultans, princes, royal wives and courtiers were buried here: Ahmed al-Mansour’s chamber, the mausoleum of Lalla Messaouda and more than a hundred simpler tombs in the garden. The marble comes from Carrara, the cedar from the Atlas, the stucco is worked into muqarnas.
At the end of the 17th century, the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail had the necropolis walled up rather than destroyed. It stayed closed, accessible only through the Kasbah mosque, and fell into oblivion. In 1917, the Fine Arts administration cut a passage from the outside and restored it. Two centuries of silence, reopened at a stroke.
They were walled up to protect them. They were forgotten in the process.
What to see - the highlights
The chamber of twelve columns
Ahmed al-Mansour's chamber: twelve Carrara marble columns, gilded cedar ceiling, muqarnas domes. You take it in from the threshold.
The mausoleums and their portals
Facades of chiselled stucco, marble columns and green tiles: the chamber of the three niches and the mausoleum of Lalla Messaouda, the sultan's mother.
Gallery
The best photo spots
Where to point the camera, and when the light is at its best.
Marble and cedar
Photograph the chamber from the entrance, without stepping in; bring a fast lens for the low light.
Zellige and tombs
Frame the mqabriya and the faience mosaics in the courtyard, away from the queue.
Tickets & guided tours
Book ahead - useful during peak hours, when the queue can top thirty minutes.
Entry ticket + digital audio guide
Bahia, Saadian Tombs & Koutoubia walking tour
Booking via GetYourGuide, our ticket partner. Indicative prices ; we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Visitor tips
At opening, 9am, or in the very late afternoon: the only way to limit the wait outside the chamber of twelve columns.
Mid-morning and early afternoon: access to the main chamber goes through a narrow bottleneck, and the queue can be long.
- You take in the chamber of twelve columns from the threshold, without stepping in: no need to jostle, the view is the same for everyone.
- The site is compact: thirty to forty-five minutes are enough.
- Few explanatory panels, and inscriptions in Arabic: a guide helps read the place.
Location & access
In the Kasbah district, in the south of the medina, right behind the Kasbah mosque. Access is through a narrow passage running along the mosque, next to Bab Agnaou. Reckon on about fifteen minutes on foot from Jemaa el-Fna.
