page_title: Landmarks of Marrakesh
section_title: Saadian Tombs
hierarchical_section_title: Landmarks of Marrakesh / Tombs and burial grounds / Saadian Tombs
caption_attribution_description: Saadian Tombs
context_page_description: Notable landmarks of city of Marrakesh, Morocco.
context_section_description: The Saadian Tombs were built in the 16th century as a royal necropolis for the Saadian sultans and their family members. It is next to the south wall of the Kasbah Mosque. It was lost for many years until the French rediscovered it in 1917 using aerial photographs. The mausoleum comprises the remains of about sixty members of the Saadi Dynasty which originated in the valley of the Draa River. Among the tombs are those of Saadian sultan Ahmad al-Mansur and his family; al-Mansur buried his mother in this dynastic necropolis in 1590 after enlarging the original square funeral structure constructed by Abdallah al-Ghalib. His own mausoleum, richly embellished, was modeled on the Nasrid mausoleum in the Alhambra of Granada, Spain. It comprises a roof of carved and painted cedar wood supported on twelve columns of carrara marble, as well as walls covered in elaborate geometric patterns in zellij tilework, Arabic calligraphic inscriptions, and vegetal motifs in carved stucco. The chamber also contains the graves of his close family members and some of his successors, many of which are covered with horizontal tombstones of finely carved marble. His chamber is adjoined by two other rooms, the largest of which was originally a prayer room, equipped with a mihrab, which was later repurposed as a mausoleum for members of the Alaouite dynasty.
caption: Saadian Tombs
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