The Full Story
Built by the Golden Sultan, sealed in 1672, forgotten for 250 years, found again from the air in 1917.
Read the History
Three Ways In
Everything You Need for Your Visit
Plan Your Visit
Hours, location, best time to go, and what to expect from the narrow entrance passage.
Visitor Guide
Book Tickets
Entrance fees, what's included, and the fastest way through the queue at the booth.
See Prices
Built · Sealed · Forgotten · Found
Sealed for 250 Years
Late 1500s
Built by the Golden Sultan
Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur ad-Dahbi raises the necropolis at the height of Saadian wealth, importing Italian Carrara marble for the Chamber of the Twelve Columns.
c. 1672
Sealed by Moulay Ismail
The new Alaouite sultan walls off the tombs rather than destroying them, leaving only a single narrow passage from the Kasbah Mosque.
1917
Rediscovered from the air
French aerial photography reveals the walled-off compound after 250 forgotten years. Read the full story →
Thousands of Visitors Each Year
What Visitors Notice
Drawn from thousands of published visitor reviews of the site — the good and the practical.
The ceiling is the highlight
The gilded muqarnas ceiling and marble columns are consistently what visitors remember most — bring a wide-angle lens.
It's small — budget 20–30 minutes
The site is compact and viewed mostly through openings rather than walked through, so pace your day around it, not around it alone.
Go early to skip the queue
The narrow single-file passage backs up fast once tour groups arrive — the single most repeated piece of visitor advice.
Visitor Guides
From the Blog
Saadian Tombs Tickets & Opening Hours (2026 Guide)
Everything you need to know before you go: prices, hours, and how to skip the worst of the queue.
Read the guide →Built, Sealed, and Rediscovered in 1917
The full story of the Saadian dynasty's royal necropolis, from Ahmad al-Mansur to the 1917 aerial survey.
Read the guide →Best Time to Visit the Saadian Tombs
How to beat the tour-group crowds in the single-file passage, hour by hour.
Read the guide →
Nearby in Marrakech
Continue Your Kasbah Visit
The Tombs take 20–30 minutes. Two more monuments sit within a short walk, and both are covered by independent guides in our network.
Kasbah District · 8-minute walk
El Badi Palace
The ruined 16th-century palace of Ahmad al-Mansur — the same sultan buried here in the Saadian Tombs. Eight minutes on foot through the Kasbah, and the scale of what the Saadians built makes far more sense once you have seen both.
El Badi Palace guide →
Medina · 12-minute walk
Bahia Palace
A 19th-century palace left fully intact — painted cedar ceilings, courtyards and harem quarters. About twelve minutes' walk into the Medina, and the natural counterpoint to the Kasbah's ruins and tombs.
Bahia Palace guide →
مقابر السعديين
See the Chamber of the Twelve Columns
Tickets 30–100 MAD depending on nationality and age, free for Moroccans on Fridays. Open daily, 9:00am–4:45pm. Buy official e-tickets online via the Ministry of Culture portal, or pay cash at the booth.