As the black slave Abu Ahmed rose to power and wealth towards the end of the 19th century, he had the El- Bahia palace built by bringing in craftsmen from Fez. The structures tell a lot about the taste of the nouveau-riche of its time, and can appear vulgar to modern tastes. It was intended to become the greatest palace of any time, but it is really dominated by hasty planning as well as uninspired detail work. This doesn't make the palace less worth visiting, it is a great illustration of its time, and wasn't worse than becoming the residence of the French resident general, Lyautey.
