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The Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah museum is located in a building that was constructed back in the 19th century. Under the protectorate, the building was used as a city hall, and then used for municipal services after the independence, to become afterwards a youth house. It’s only in 1980 that this monument finally became the museum of local traditions of Essaouira, named after the king Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah.

The initial structure of the residence had many changes, but it is basically composed of the ground floor and an upper floor, with several rooms opening on a patio that has a fountain in the centre.

The main mission of the museum is to preserve the cultural and artistic inheritance of the city and its area. For this purpose, many valuable objects are exposed in the museum in the following categories:

-          The natural side of Essaouira: some panels show the richness of the fauna and flora of the region, and a presentation on the wall explains the different stages of the extraction of Argan oil.

-          Music: an exposition of different musical instruments used by musicians of various styles such as Gnawa, Amazigh music, Melhoun, and others.

-          Craft works: a room is dedicated to an exposition of traditional tools used in crafts made of Thyua wood, as well as some artistic objects such as boxes and tables.

-          Jewellery: with a collection of various jewels of Amazigh, Arabic, and Jewish origins.

-          Weapons: introducing fire guns and other accessories.

-          Other various objects such as carpets, collections of local currencies from the 18th century, traditional clothes from the 19th and 20th century, and some contemporary paintings.

The Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah museum is located in Derb Laalouj, and should be listed among your must-to-see places while visiting Essaouira.