page_title: Asilah
section_title: Raisuli Palace (Palais Raissouli)
hierarchical_section_title: Asilah / Notable landmarks / The medina / Raisuli Palace (Palais Raissouli)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Palais de Raïssouli
context_page_description: Asilah, also written Arzeila, is a fortified town on the northwest tip of the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 31 km south of Tangier. Its ramparts and gateworks remain fully intact.
context_section_description: This restored palace is in the mid-northern part of the medina, alongside the sea walls. It was built in 1909 by Moulay Ahmed er-Raisuni (also known as Raisuli), a local rogue and pirate who rose to power and declared himself pasha of the region. He rose to notoriety and wealth partly through kidnappings and ransoms, including of several Westerners who wrote about him afterwards. The palace has been restored and reveals some of the luxury in which Raisuli lived. It includes a lavish reception room with zellij tilework, carved stucco, and painted wood like in other Moroccan palaces. The reception room also gives access to a large loggia and terrace overlooking the sea. Raisuli infamously claimed that he executed convicted murderers by forcing them to jump from this terrace onto the sea rocks below.
caption: Raisuli Palace exterior.
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3000", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image Software": "Ver.1.00", "Image DateTime": "2013:09:21 12:13:35", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2242", "Image XPComment": "[32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, 32, 0, ... ]", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/640", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Manual", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:09:21 12:13:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:09:21 12:13:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "1", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF SubSecTime": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "50", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "50", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "33288", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 2, 0, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4156"}