El Badi Palace

The orange mud-brick walls of El Badi Palace rise above the Marrakesh skyline, their tops jagged and home to nesting storks. Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur built this complex in the late sixteenth century after his victory at the Battle of the Three Kings. He used gold, turquoise, and Italian marble to decorate the vast interior. When his successor moved the capital to Meknes, the palace was stripped of its riches. The storks remain today, nesting in the ruins of the royal chambers.