Dar Batḥa ( ar, دار البطحاء, pronounced ''Bat-ḥaa''), or Qasr al-Batḥa ( ar, قصر البطحاء), is a former royal palace in the city of
Fez, Morocco
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès, Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the List of cities in Morocco, second largest city i ...
. The palace was commissioned by the
Alaouite
The Alawi dynasty ( ar, سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, translit=sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning d ...
Sultan
Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...
Hassan I
''Mawlay'' Hassan bin Mohammed ( ar, الحسن بن محمد, translit=al-Ḥassan bin Muḥammad), known as Hassan I ( ar, الحسن الأول, translit=al-Ḥassan al-Awwal), born in 1836 in Fes and died on 9 June 1894 in Tadla, was a sulta ...
in the late 19th century and finished under his successor
Abdelaziz. It was converted into a museum of historical arts and crafts in 1915 with a collection that now comprises over 6,500 objects. The palace is located near
Bab Bou Jeloud at the western edge of
Fes el-Bali, the old
medina quarter
A medina (from ar, مدينة, translit=madīnah, lit=city) is a historical district in a number of North African cities, often corresponding to an old walled city. The term comes from the Arabic word simply meaning "city" or "town".
Histori ...
of the city, and close to
Fes el-Jdid, the new medina quarter. It is adjacent to the
Dar el-Beida palace located to its southeast, which was originally part of the same complex.
History
Before the reign of Moulay Hassan I (ruled 1873–1894), the land on which Dar Batha is located was occupied only by small isolated structures between Fes el-Bali and Fes el-Jdid. It was only when Moulay Hassan decided to build a corridor of
walls
Walls may refer to:
*The plural of wall, a structure
* Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname
Places
* Walls, Louisiana, United States
*Walls, Mississippi, United States
* Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...
connecting the two cities that much of this space was filled with royal gardens (such as
Jnan Sbil) and palaces.
The land for Dar Batha was purchased from the wealthy
Ben Jelloun family of Fes.
Dar Batha and Dar el-Beida were constructed to serve as a summer palace and as a residence for distinguished visitors and guests.
The palace was commissioned and begun in the late 19th century by Moulay Hassan I and then finished and embellished by Moulay Abdelaziz (ruled 1894–1908).
One source reports that construction took place between 1886 and 1907.
The adjoining Dar el-Beida was completed by Sultan
Abdelhafid (ruled 1909–1912), the last independent sultan of Morocco in the early 20th century.
In 1912 both palaces were used to house the services of the
Resident-general
A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of indi ...
of the new
French Protectorate. In 1915, Dar Batha was converted into a museum of local arts (previously housed at the
Dar Adiyel
Dar Adiyel or Dar 'Adiyil is a historic mansion in Fes el-Bali, the old medina of Fes, Morocco. It is located in the Zqaq el-Bghal neighbourhood, a short distance south from Tala'a Seghira street.
History
The exact date of the house's constr ...
), then eventually as a national
ethnographical
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
museum and cultural center.
In 1924 it was classified as a national monument.
Architecture
The main entrance of the building leads to a vast rectangular courtyard around which the building is centered. The courtyard is surrounded by galleries and by the two main wings of the building are at its eastern and western ends. The courtyard floor is decorated at its west and east ends with colorful ''
zellij
''Zellij'' ( ar, الزليج, translit=zillīj; also spelled zillij or zellige) is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various pa ...
''
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
tilework across its floor and around its ornamental fountains.
The galleries at the east and west ends of the courtyard consist of large horseshoe arches in brick, while the galleries to the north and south of the central garden are made of painted wood. Some of the other rooms around the palace are also decorated with zellij and painted woodwork.
The garden represents a typical
riad layout and
Andalusia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...
n style, a rectangular area divided into four parts along its two central axes, with a fountain at its middle.
It makes up around 58% of the entire area of the palace.
The garden was originally arranged by
landscape architect
A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...
Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier in 1915 for the recreational use of the visitors, especially during the summer.
Among the tree and plant species here are palm trees,
jacarandas, and
hibiscus
''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...
.
Today, concerts and religious festivals are held in the garden.
File:Inside Batha Museum of Fes city.jpg, The courtyard of the palace, with ''zellij
''Zellij'' ( ar, الزليج, translit=zillīj; also spelled zillij or zellige) is a style of mosaic tilework made from individually hand-chiseled tile pieces. The pieces were typically of different colours and fitted together to form various pa ...
''-covered fountains
File:Dar Batha DSCF2803.jpg, ''Zellij'' paving around the fountain
File:Dar Batha DSCF2808.jpg, Gallery around the courtyard
File:Dar Batha Museum, Fes (8958254162).jpg, The central riad garden
File:Dar el Batha Museum (588894744).jpg, One of the wooden galleries along the northern or southern edge of the garden
File:Dar Batha DSCF2795.jpg, Painted decoration on the ceiling of the wooden gallery
Museum collection
The museum houses a large and valuable collection of 6500 archaeological and historical art artifacts.
Many of them are taken from the historic or ruined buildings in the medina of Fez (
Fes el-Bali and
Fes el-Jdid), including various mosques and
madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s.
[Batha Museum](_blank)
''Lonely Planet''. Retrieved January 23, 2018. Some of the oldest artifacts and pieces of art in Fes are housed here, including architectural fragments from the
Idrisid
The Idrisid dynasty or Idrisids ( ar, الأدارسة ') were an Arab Muslim dynasty from 788 to 974, ruling most of present-day Morocco and parts of present-day western Algeria. Named after the founder, Idris I, the Idrisids were an Alid and ...
era and the remains of the 9th-century
minbar
A minbar (; sometimes romanized as ''mimber'') is a pulpit in a mosque where the imam (leader of prayers) stands to deliver sermons (, ''khutbah''). It is also used in other similar contexts, such as in a Hussainiya where the speaker sits and le ...
of the
Andalusian Mosque
The Mosque of the Andalusians or Al-Andalusiyyin Mosque ( ar, جامع الأندلسيين, Jama' al-Andalusiyyin; ), sometimes also called the Andalusian Mosque, is a major historic mosque in Fes el Bali, the old medina quarter of Fez, Moro ...
, crafted under both
Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
and
Andalusian Umayyad patronage.
The 14th-century minbar of the
Bou Inania Madrasa
The Madrasa Bou Inania (; ) is a madrasa in Fes, Morocco, built in 1350–55 CE by Abu Inan Faris. It is the only madrasa in Morocco which also functioned as a congregational mosque. It is widely acknowledged as a high point of Marinid archi ...
is also housed here.
Other artifacts include historic
Qur'ans,
astrolabes
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
, musical instruments, carpets, jewelry, and a large collection of local
ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
in the "blue" style of Fes.
The objects are arranged thematically across the rooms of the palace.
See also
*
Kasbah Palace, Tangier
*
List of Moroccan royal residences
The King of Morocco currently has at least one residence in each of the country's principal cities, sometimes going back to ancient times. They are often referred to as Dar el-Makhzen, using the Moroccan term for the monarchical institution.
Pa ...
References
{{Fes
19th-century establishments in Africa
Museums in Morocco
Tourist attractions in Fez, Morocco
Palaces in Fez, Morocco
'Alawi architecture