Maybe the rumours are true of a curse on the Mnebhi Palace, now home to Musée de Marrakech. Its low walls and inner courtyard left no place to hide for Mehdi Mnebhi, defence minister during Sultan Moulay Abdelaziz’s troubled 1894–1908 reign. While Minister Mnebhi was away receiving a medal from Queen Victoria, England conspired with France and Spain to colonise North Africa. In Mnebhi’s absence, autocrat Pasha Glaoui filched his palace – but after independence, it was seized by the state and became Marrakesh’s first girls’ school in 1965.
The palace’s fortunes turned around in 1997 with restoration by the Omar Benjelloun Foundation. Now displayed within are traditional arts, including Rabati embroidery, inlaid daggers and Fassi pottery.
