El-Badi Palace was once a lavish complex like something out of The Arabian Nights. Commissioned by Saadian King Ahmed el-Mansour, it was pillaged by Alawite Sultan Moulay Ismael to fit out his palaces at Meknes and is now little more than a huge mud wall, its crenellations bristling with storks' nests. However, a gem is hidden in the back of the courtyard: the Koutoubia Minbar, a pulpit richly decorated with sculptures, made in Cordoba from 1137 and transported piece by piece to Marrakesh.