While strolling through the old streets of Salé, be sure to find time to distract yourself from them and go to the interesting historical Belghazi Museum, one of the most unusual museums not only in Africa but also around the world.
First, it is interesting because it is located in an old construction built in the XVII century. Inside, the layout, wall decoration, and location of windows are completely preserved. A tourist rarely has the opportunity to see what the old residential buildings looked like inside. After all, most of them continue to be an apartments. But in one of these houses, a historical museum was opened in 1996.
Second, despite its small size, the Belghazi Museum has an impressive collection. In total, the exhibition occupies 6 halls-rooms, each of which is dedicated to a specific topic: art, labor, local customs and beliefs, children, and rituals. The exhibits are selected very carefully, so it seems that each room tells a certain, almost fairy-tale story about the city and its inhabitants.
The Belghazi Museum is the largest private museum in Africa, where you can find archaeological artifacts, folk costumes, old parts of houses (doors and shutters), jewelry, children's toys, embroidery, manuscripts, wedding chests, tools, and even small agricultural devices.
This collection was carefully created by a resident, Abdallah Belghazi, after whom the museum was named. He believed that large national museums, where all the exhibits are hidden under glass and you can not touch them, are not suitable for such a welcoming city as Salé. There is too much pathos in them that does not reflect the whole essence of the local culture. A real historical museum should be simple, understandable, and as homely as possible so that every guest can feel comfortable in it. Therefore, he chose an old residential building for his museum and created an unusual but very detailed collection that can be studied in a calm and friendly environment.