Batha Museum

Lonely Planet review

This building, Sultan Moulay Abd al-Aziz's summer palace, was completed at the end of the 19th century. Converted into a museum in 1916, it houses mostly 18th-century Fassi items, including musical instruments, embroidery, clothing and jewellery, as well as carpets from the Middle Atlas Berber tribes. Of note is the 10th-century minbar (pulpit) from the Al Andalous Mosque. The signage describing the artefacts is in French and Arabic.

Across the garden, the rest of the palace is closed, except for a tiny room where a man produces boxes, letter openers and trinkets in fine wood-marquetry, just as he has for 50 years. The garden has been lovingly restored by ADER (Agency for the Dedensification & Rehabilitation of the Fez Medina) based on the original plans. It contains a venerable holm oak that has grown much bigger than these trees usually do - perhaps especially for the artists who perform in its shade at the afternoon concerts of the Fes Festival of World Sacred Music.