Museum · Mellah
Bayt Dakira, Maison de la mémoire
Bayt Dakira, the House of Memory, fills the former Slat Attia synagogue on rue Ziry Ibn Atiyah. It drew just over 120,000 visitors in 2025, according to André Azoulay. No official hours or price had been published as of 17 October 2026: ring the association that runs it, at Dar Souiri, on +212 524 475 268.
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What you visit: the Slat Attia synagogue and three floors of memory
Bayt Dakira fills the former Slat Attia synagogue, also listed as the Simon Attias synagogue. It served as both a synagogue and a rabbinical court, on three levels. No official source gives the year it was built. It is one of the medina buildings restored since 2012.
King Mohammed VI visited it on Wednesday 15 January 2020. The house brings together three parts: the Slat Attia prayer hall, the house of memory and history, and the Haïm and Célia Zafrani international research centre on relations between Judaism and Islam. Objects, texts, photographs and films follow Jewish life in Essaouira through each stage: birth, bar mitzvah, marriage, death. The Association Essaouira-Mogador launched the project.
No official source says what languages the panels are in. The visit takes under an hour, our estimate. Our advice: read up on the place before you go in, or bring a guide, so that each object finds its place in the story.
Hours and price: nothing official
Nobody publishes official hours. The website of the Association Essaouira-Mogador, which runs the house, has no Bayt Dakira page (read on 17 October 2026). The culture ministry’s online ticket portal offers just one site in Essaouira, the Skala du Port. The timetables circulating online contradict each other, down to whether it opens on Saturday, the Sabbath. No entry price is published either.
Our advice: come on a weekday, in the middle of the day, and ring the association first. It is based at Dar Souiri, 10 rue du Caire, and answers on +212 524 475 268 or at essmog@gmail.com. Ask for the day’s hours and the entry price, if there is one.
The house doubles as a concert room. The association has announced a free evening concert there at 20:30 on its Facebook page. During the 2025 Gnaoua Festival, Bayt Dakira hosted intimate late concerts from 23:00, ticketed at 250 MAD an evening (official programme).
Visitor numbers, the quarter and where to go next
André Azoulay, founding president of the Association Essaouira-Mogador, gave the figures in Rabat in April 2026. He counted 97,500 visitors in 2024 and just over 120,000 in 2025 (Hespress, 14 April 2026). That is roughly 330 visitors a day on average, by our arithmetic. On 21 September 2025 Le360 claimed one million visitors from 57 countries for 2024. Our advice: we go with the figure from the president of the association that runs the house.
Directories put Bayt Dakira in the Mellah. Rue Ziry Ibn Atiyah, however, is on the Kasbah side. The synagogue stands at the mouth of a wide covered street, 290 m or a 4-minute walk from Place Moulay Hassan. Slat Lkahal synagogue, on rue du Mellah, is about 415 m away as the crow flies. Our advice: do the two back to back, then walk on to the Haïm Pinto synagogue in the rabbi’s former house. The medina’s other open venues are gathered in our museums and galleries section.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bayt Dakira free?
No entry price is published, either by the Association Essaouira-Mogador, which runs the house, or by the ministry’s ticket portal (read on 17 October 2026). Ask the association on +212 524 475 268 before you go.
What are Bayt Dakira opening hours?
No official hours are published, and the timetables circulating online contradict each other. Ring the association at Dar Souiri on +212 524 475 268, and aim for a weekday, in the middle of the day.
Is Bayt Dakira open on Saturday?
No official source says, and the timetables online disagree on the point. Saturday is the Sabbath, so check with the association on +212 524 475 268 before you go.
How long do you need at Bayt Dakira?
Under an hour, our estimate. Add time to read up on the place if you have not done so beforehand.
Is there English signage at Bayt Dakira?
No official source says what languages the panels are in. Read up on the place before your visit, or bring a guide.
Where is Bayt Dakira in Essaouira?
On rue Ziry Ibn Atiyah in the medina, near Place Moulay Hassan. Directories say the Mellah, but the street is on the Kasbah side.