To get there, you walk through narrow blue and white alleys, high above the mouth of the Bou Regreg. You pass an Andalusian garden. Then a door opens onto one of the most beautiful museums in Morocco: Oudayas, the National Museum of Adornment.
When it reopened in January 2023 after a full restoration, nearly 3,000 visitors came on the very first day.
Where Rabat began
The Kasbah of the Oudayas was fortified in the 12th century under the Almohads. It is the first core of what would become Rabat. Today, with the medina and the modern city, it is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site "Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City", inscribed in 2012.
A royal treasure
The museum's star is a personal collection: King Mohammed VI made some 3,500 Amazigh jewels from his own collection available to the National Foundation of Museums, and a large part of them is shown in a room dedicated to Amazigh adornment.
Five rooms, one story
- How jewellery is made: the history of adornment and the craftsmen's techniques.
- Moroccan dress: caftans for women and men.
- Men's adornment, including horse harnesses.
- Amazigh adornment, home to the royal collection.
- Regional styles: the great centres of urban jewellery making.
Did you know? The museum's scenography was designed by Christophe Martin, who also designed the exhibition spaces of the Yves Saint Laurent Museum and the Majorelle Museum in Marrakech.
Make a day of it
Combine the museum with a stroll through the kasbah, a mint tea at the Café Maure overlooking the river, and the garden. While in Rabat, don't miss the Mohammed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art: see our museums to visit in Morocco.
Moroccan heritage at home
Many Moroccan painters draw on the motifs of jewellery, textiles and Amazigh signs. Discover original works by Moroccan artists available now.