Dar Si Said

This small palace was built by Si Said, vizier (minister) under Moulay Hassan, the last effective sultan of precolonial Morocco. An attractive building with shady, pooled courtyards, it is now home to the Museum of Moroccan Arts. Exhibits include a fascinating display of Berber daggers and jewelry made of amber, ivory, and silver; beautiful carpets from the High Atlas; Taroudannt oil lamps; Marrakchi leatherwork; and distinctive blue pottery from Safi and green pottery from Tamegroute, near Zagora. At the end of the main entrance corridor is the museum's oldest and most treasured artifact -- an 11th-century rectangular marble basin originally transported from Islamic Spain by the Almoravids and left undamaged for centuries. Prominent throughout the building is the collection of finely carved, mainly Berber woodwork. The exhibit explanations are in Arabic and French only, but it's still worth a look.

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