by Moroccans seeking baraka from Moulay Isma'il's tomb, in addition to being a significant tourist attraction in the city. Architecture and layout The funerary complex consists of various courtyards and chambers. The main central courtyard, located on the west side of the tomb chamber, is sparsely decorated except for a central fountain and zellij pavement. The western and eastern sides of the courtyard are occupied by porticoes of three horseshoe arches. The eastern wall of the courtyard, in front of the mausoleum, also features a small mihrab (niche indicating the direction of prayer). Behind the courtyard's eastern wall are the mausoleum chamber and adjoining rooms. The northernmost of these rooms, which can be accessed directly from the northeastern corner of the courtyard, consists of an indoor patio or courtyard covered by a high cupola ceiling. The layout of this patio is similar to the Chamber of the Twelve Columns in the Saadian Tombs, consisting of a square delineated by twelve marble columns arranged in groups of three at each corner, around which runs a gallery space. Another mihrab is set into the eastern wall, while a small side-chamber is set into the western wall. The pavement and lower walls are decorated with zellij tilework that feature circular or radiating geometric patterns, typical of Moroccan architecture. The upper walls and the areas around the mihrab and doorways are decorated with carved and painted stucco featuring arabesque and epigraphic motifs also typical of Moroccan architecture. At the center of the patio is an ornate fountain, and while the cupola ceiling above primarily features painted and carved wood. The cupola is high enough to allow for windows that bring in natural light. The marble columns feature Moroccan-Andalusian capitals carved with leaf, palm, and palmette motifs. These marble columns, as well as the ornately-carved marble panels in the archway leading to the mausoleum antechamber, are believed to be spolia taken by Moulay Isma'il from the former Saadian palaces of in the Kasbah of Marrakesh (such as the Badi Palace). On the south side of the patio chamber is a large archway with ornate wooden doors which leads to a rectangular antechamber which precedes the actual mausoleum chamber. The mausoleum is a square chamber which holds the tombstones (mqabriyas) of Moulay Isma'il (died 1727), his son and successor Ahmad ad-Dhahabi (died 1729), and the later sultan Moulay Abd ar-Rahman ibn Hisham (died 1859). On the