The Palace of Italian Institutions, famous as the Moulay Hafid Palace, is considered one of the main historical monuments of Tangier. It is located in the middle of Boulevard Hassan II with an area of 32,800 m2.
The Palace is featuring refined Andalusian Moorish-style architecture, and hosting numerous cultural events.This superb palace was built at the end of the 19th century by Sultan Moulay Hafid, named after him. The building was subsequently acquired by the Italians in 1926. Renovated in 2006.
This Palace was built at the end of the 19th century by Sultan Moulay Hafid. He wanted to make his palace a masterpiece of Moorish-style architecture as much for the beauty of its gardens as for its interiors and its surface area. Never inhabited by the Sultan who went into exile in Spain at the beginning of the 20th century, the construction ended in 1912.
Becoming property of France, it was sold at auction in 1926 and acquired by the Italian government which had a church, a school and a hospital built there. The palace changed its name to “Palace of Italian Institutions” and became a prestigious setting for the organisation of cultural and social events until the consular authorities left Tangier. It was left abandoned until its acquisition in 2001 by the Lisa Chimenti Foundation.
“It was at the initiative of the Consul General of Italy in Casablanca, Nicolas Lener, that the palace of Italian institutions was rehabilitated and restored. This consul undertook, upon his arrival in Casablanca, to restore this historic monument to its former beauty,” the consular correspondent of Italy in Morocco, Gianfranco Gianelli declared. The palace of Italian institutions still retains its Moorish-Andalusian style and the visitor is quickly seduced by its large Arab-Andalusian patio, its atypical garden with its plants and flowers, its floor and its large marble fountain.
“It is a flagship of the city which contributes to the glory of this city”, declares Mr. Gianelli who specifies with pride that since its reopening, this palace “is intended to host the major cultural events that Tangier organizes”.
