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Dar Moulay Ali is a historic residence andriad inMarrakesh,Morocco. It is located right next to theKutubiyya Mosque. It currently houses theFrenchconsulate.
The residence was built in the 1820s, during the reign of SultanMoulay Abd ar-Rahman, by Sulayman as-Siyadmi, aqaid of theChiadma tribe. Moulay Abd ar-Rahman's son and successor,Muhammad IV, confiscated the residence and gifted it to his brother Ali (Moulay Ali), after whom the residence is now named. During theFrench Protectorate in Morocco (1912-1956), it was used as the residence of various military officials. Today it remains in use as the official office and residence of the French consulate. The building was most recently restored in 2015.[1][2][3][4]
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The residence is located directly east of the Kutubiyya Mosque, between the mosque and the main road today. It consists of a large house centered around a small courtyard garden, off which ornate salons opened. The house was decorated with paintedarabesque motifs,zellij tilework, andepigraphicArabic inscriptions. An imposingmenzeh or viewing pavilion originally stood on its southwestern side, next to the mosque, but this was demolished in the 1920s. The residence's original main entrance was on its northeast side, where a large rectangularriad garden (a garden divided into four parts by two crossing paths, with a central fountain at the intersection of the paths) led up to a decoratedporch in front of the entrance doorway. The riad garden had two small outer entrances on its east side but the main entrance to the compound was through another courtyard on its south side. This courtyard and the riad garden, however, were mostly demolished in the 20th century when the main road on its east side was enlarged, although traces of it have been preserved and can be seen outside the present-day walls of the residence. An even larger garden park was stretched out on the south side of the residence and still exists today.[3][2]
Palaces and historic residences in Morocco | ||
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| Fez |   | |
| Marrakesh | ||
| Meknes |
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| Rabat | ||
| Tangier | ||
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| Americas | |
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| Asia | |
| Europe | |
Embassies shown as main entries;consulates-general shown as sub-entries by country. | ||
| Africa |  | |
| Americas | ||
| Asia | ||
| Europe | ||
| Organisations | ||
| Former |
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1 No diplomatic relations with France, functions as an informal diplomatic mission | ||
31°37′25.9″N7°59′33.5″W / 31.623861°N 7.992639°W /31.623861; -7.992639
