The Menara Gardens
The postcard image of Marrakech: the green pavilion and its reflection in the great pool, the Atlas behind. The garden itself is a bare olive grove, quickly walked; you come for the pool and the sunset, not to linger for hours. Free, ten minutes from the centre, perfect at the end of the day.
History & context
The Menara Gardens go back to the 12th century. Around 1157, the Almohad sultan Abd al-Mu’min had a bouhaïra laid out here - a great walled orchard with a pool to store water and irrigate the trees. In the 16th century, the Saadians extended the ensemble and gave it its present shape.
At the edge of the pool stands the menzeh, a pavilion capped with a green pyramid roof, rebuilt in the 19th century, which served as belvedere and resting place. It is the pavilion that gives the garden its name; and its reflection in the water, with the Atlas in the background, has made it the most reproduced image of Marrakech.
All around stretches the olive grove: more than a hundred hectares of olive trees, some many centuries old, still harvested each autumn. The water, as at the Agdal, comes from the High Atlas by khettaras.
You come for twenty minutes and a photograph: the pavilion, the pool, the Atlas. That is already a lot.
What to see - the highlights
The pool and the pavilion
The great Almohad pool and the menzeh, its green pyramid roof mirrored in the water, with the Atlas in the background.
The sunset
Late in the day, the sky flares behind the pavilion and raking light sets it against the Atlas.
The olive grove
More than a hundred hectares of walled olive trees, some many centuries old, still harvested each autumn.
Atlas water
The pool is fed, as at the Agdal, by underground khettaras that bring water from the High Atlas.
When to go
Sunset on the pavilion and the Atlas: the image you come for.
Harsh light, little shade, and the pool often rippled, with no clean reflection.
The snow-capped Atlas is set against the pool.
Gallery
Tours & day trips
Book ahead - useful during peak hours, when the queue can top thirty minutes.
Majorelle, Menara & Anima gardens - private
Botanical circuit & Majorelle Garden
Booking via GetYourGuide, our ticket partner. Indicative prices ; we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Visitor tips
Late in the day, for the sunset and the light on the Atlas.
The middle of the day: harsh light and a pool without reflection.
- The gardens are free; only the pavilion (menzeh) charges - about £4 - and opens only from 9am to 5pm.
- It is a short stop: the pool takes twenty minutes to see. Combine with another garden, or keep for sunset.
- Photographers and horse-cart drivers tout at the entrance: nothing is obligatory, agree the price before if you accept.
Location & access
West of the city, on the Menara road, towards the airport, about ten minutes from the centre by taxi. A vast walled olive grove; the pool and the pavilion are at the far end, on the axis of the entrance.
