Forget dusty display cases. Morocco's museums now live in pashas' palaces, collectors' houses and kasbahs overlooking the sea. Many have reopened after major restorations led by the National Foundation of Museums, created in 2011. Here are eight worth planning a trip around.
Casablanca
1. Abderrahman Slaoui Foundation Museum
Opened in 2012 in a 1940s house in Casablanca's historic centre, this private museum shows the collection of Abderrahman Slaoui: antique Moroccan jewellery, Bohemian crystal boxes and perfume bottles, and one of the largest collections of orientalist posters in Morocco. Don't miss: the travel posters, drawn between the 1890s and the 1950s, a time machine to the Morocco of another age.
2. Museum of Moroccan Judaism
Often described as the only Jewish museum in the Arab world, it tells the story of Morocco's Jewish community through textiles, manuscripts, religious objects and photographs. Small, moving and essential.
Rabat
3. Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Opened in 2014, it was the country's first major museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art. In 2019 it held a major retrospective of Hassan El Glaoui, the painter of horses.
4. Oudayas, National Museum of Adornment
Hidden inside a 12th-century kasbah, it reopened in 2023 with part of the King's personal collection of Amazigh jewellery. Read our full article.
Marrakech
5. Yves Saint Laurent Museum
Opened in 2017 next to the Majorelle Garden, it celebrates the couturier who fell in love with Marrakech and found endless inspiration in its colours.
6. Dar El Bacha – Museum of Confluences
Built in the 1910s, this was the palace of Thami El Glaoui, the all-powerful Pasha of Marrakech, whose guests included Winston Churchill. Inaugurated as a museum in 2017, it hosts exhibitions on the meeting of cultures.
7. Dar Si Saïd – National Museum of Weaving and Carpets
A late-19th-century residence in the medina, home since 2018 to rural and urban carpets from across the country. Damaged by the September 2023 earthquake, it has been under restoration: check it is open before you go.
Tangier
8. Kasbah Museum
Set in the former sultan's palace at the top of the kasbah, it tells the story of Tangier and its Mediterranean cultures. On a clear day, the view stretches across the Strait of Gibraltar to Spain.
Our tip: many museums close one day a week and opening hours change with the seasons. Check before you go.
After the museums, art you can take home
In Casablanca, visit ARTWORKS, our gallery, to see original works by Moroccan artists, or browse all available artworks online.