The Bahia Palace, or Dar al-Bahia, meaning "Palace of Brilliance", is a 150-room nineteenth-century construction with decor that really is quite brilliant.

The palace was originally built in the 1860s for the sultan's grand vizier Si Moussa, but it was massively expanded by his son, Ba Ahmed, who effectively ruled Morocco as regent (1894–1900), and housed his various wives and concubines here, Under colonial rule it was the home of France's resident-general, Hubert Lyautey.

Because it was built piecemeal and added to whenever Ba Ahmed felt like it, the palace has a higgledy-piggledy layout, and only parts of it are open to the public, but the workmanship is superlative, and the zellij tilework, stucco plaster, carved cedar wood, painted ceilings, Iraqi stained glass and elegant courtyards are a wonder to behold.