Musée de Marrakech

Experiencia positiva: The central internal courtyard here, with its archways, stained-glass windows, intricate painted door panels and colourful geometric mosaic tilework, was stunning and I took lots of snaps. Beyond this, the range of exhibits on show was limited and supporting signage was mostly in Arabic or French so couldn’t make out what was going on Saw everything in under 40 minutes, a real let down considering the MAD70 admission fee and spending my life walking around in circles in the medina trying to find the place.

Experiencia fantástica: A hidden gem! 50 dirhams well spent. Beautiful building, it was empty when we visited. This museum does however need some TLC and restorative work.

Experiencia positiva: The museum is quite small. It is probably informative but they only provide French and Arabic introduction and you will not understand what is going on with all the beautiful pottery and ceramic.

Experiencia fantástica: The Marrakech Museum is housed in the Dar Menebhi Palace, former residence of Mehdi Mnebhi, who was the Defence Minister of Abdelaziz of Morocco. The palace dates from the end of the nineteenth century, and a great example of classical Andalusian architecture. In 1997 the Omar Benjelloun Foundation bought the building to restore it and open the Marrakech Museum in part of the palace. The same foundation also purchased the Ben Youssef Madrasa and the Almoravid Koubba. Before it was restored, the palace had been used as a residence and during the 1960s it had housed a school for girls. One of the building’s highlights is the patio (don’t miss the magnificent lamp) and the rooms around the traditional courtyard. These rooms house the museum’s collection, made up mainly of weapons, pottery and other traditional Moroccan objects. Visitors can also go to the palace’s hammam and visit one of the temporary exhibitions.