Qualla: Kasbah Palace, Tangier

Kasbah Palace, Tangier: Introduction

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Alexey Komarov, CC BY-SA 4.0. In a former kitchen of a sultan's palace in Tangier, a life-size Carthaginian tomb sits next to Roman artifacts from Lixus and Volubilis. Down the hall, in what were once royal reception rooms, carpets from across Morocco hang alongside firearms decorated with marquetry, silks from Fez, and illuminated manuscripts. And in the building's former prison, opened as an exhibition space in 2021, contemporary Moroccan art fills cells that once held captives. The Kasbah Palace has been reinventing itself since the day it was built.

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Image: Alexey Komarov | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kasbah Palace, Tangier: Over the Ruins of English Tangier

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit ZAINEB HACHAMI, CC BY-SA 4.0. The palace sits on one of the most contested pieces of real estate in North Africa. This hilltop site within Tangier's kasbah has been the seat of political power in the city for centuries. When England held Tangier from 1661 to 1684 -- a possession acquired through Catherine of ...

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Image: ZAINEB HACHAMI | CC BY-SA 4.0

Kasbah Palace, Tangier: From Throne Room to Gallery

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Constance, CC BY 2.0. The palace was converted into a museum in 1922, beginning a century-long transformation from seat of power to cultural institution. The Museum of Mediterranean Cultures, as it has been known since a comprehensive renovation completed in 2016, occupies the former reception spaces ...

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Image: Constance | CC BY 2.0

Kasbah Palace, Tangier: The Mechouar and Its Dependencies

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit cat_collector, CC BY 2.0. The palace faces the Mechouar, a formal ceremonial square within the kasbah that once served as the stage for official receptions and military reviews. Buildings flanking the square include a former Bayt al-mal -- an Islamic treasury -- created in the late 18th century, and priso...

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Image: cat_collector | CC BY 2.0

Kasbah Palace, Tangier: Contemporary Art in a Former Prison

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Travel4Brews, CC BY 2.0. The most striking addition to the museum came in late 2021, when the Kasbah Museum Contemporary Art Space opened in the palace's former prison. The conversion of prison cells into gallery spaces carries its own symbolism in a country still reckoning with its complex political his...

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Image: Travel4Brews | CC BY 2.0