Riad garden
Orange trees and fountains in four parts.
YassirZek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · R Prazeres — CC BY-SA 4.0 · R Prazeres — CC BY-SA 4.0 · YassirZek — CC BY-SA 4.0 · R Prazeres — CC BY-SA 4.0
Dar El Bacha, the House of the Pasha, is a palace in the Marrakech medina built around 1910 for Thami El Glaoui, pasha of the city for almost half a century. Run by the National Museums Foundation since July 2015, it opened in 2017 as the Museum of Confluences, devoted to the cultural strands that shaped Moroccan identity. It follows the classic riad plan: a rectangular, symmetrical garden with six rooms around its four sides. Local craftsmanship meets the pasha's taste for European, especially Italian, touches in the doors, the windows and the central heating built into many rooms. It was also among the first Marrakech palaces to flaunt rich decoration on its outer walls, and the foundation names Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt among its guests. Paths cross the four-part garden of orange trees and fountains to the salons around it, rich in zellij, carved stucco and carved, painted cedar doors and ceilings. These rooms host changing exhibitions, from Moroccan woodwork in 2023 to a survey of Moroccan crafts and heritage in 2025; the foundation's website lists the current show. Bacha Coffee, a café inside the palace, rounds off many visits. The museum stands on Rue Dar el Bacha in the Mouassine area of the north-western medina, about 700 m in a straight line from both Jemaa el-Fnaa and Bab Doukkala, or 10 to 15 minutes' walk from the square through the souks. The Marrakech Museum and the Ben Youssef Madrasa lie nearly 600 m east, and Jardin Majorelle about 1.5 km north-west as the crow flies.
Orange trees and fountains in four parts.
Carved, painted doors and ceilings.
New shows in the palace salons.
Rue Dar el Bacha, Riad Laarous, medina, Marrakech
Almoravid KoubbaThe Almoravid Koubba, or Qubbat al-Barudiyyin, is a small domed pavilion in the 6 minutes walk
Souks of MarrakechThe Souks of Marrakech are the covered lanes of the old city between Jemaa el-Fn7 minutes walk
Ben Youssef MadrasaA historic Islamic college in the north of Marrakech's medina, named after the n7 minutes walk4.8
Marrakech MuseumThe Marrakech Museum occupies Dar Menebhi, a palace in the northern medina built7 minutes walk
Jemaa el-FnaaThe great square of Marrakech's old city and its beating heart for centuries, wh8 minutes walk4.4Moroccans pay 25 MAD, or 15 MAD under 18. The foundation's 2025 visitor information also gave free entry on Fridays to Moroccans and foreign residents of Morocco, and every day to students and teachers; its current museum page lists only the paid fares, so ask at the desk.
He was head of the Glaoua, a High Atlas tribe whose leading family had its seat at the Telouet Kasbah, and he governed Marrakech as its pasha until the mid-1950s; he died in 1956.