The Palmeraie Museum
Out of the city, in the palm grove: a Moroccan contemporary art museum - some fifty artists - set inside a two-hectare park. You come as much for the works as for the garden and the quiet. Far from the centre: pair with a trip into the palm grove, don't slot it between two medina visits.
History & context
The Palmeraie Museum opened in 2011, on the initiative of Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, a botanist and perfumer from Marrakech - he was the one who reworked the Jardin Majorelle for Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, and created its scent.
The museum shows Moroccan contemporary art: some fifty artists, across painting, photography, calligraphy, sculpture and installation. It is set inside a two-hectare park - Andalusian garden, dry garden, water garden, orchard and rose garden - which is part of the visit.
Now the Benchaâbane Foundation, the place plays on quiet and distance: you are in the palm grove, a few kilometres from the centre.
Contemporary art and a garden, apart: you come here for the quiet as much as for the works.
What to see - the highlights
Moroccan contemporary art
Some fifty artists: paintings, photographs, calligraphies, sculptures and installations.
The two-hectare park
Andalusian garden, dry garden, water garden, orchard and scented rose garden: the visit continues outside.
The Benchaâbane Foundation
The place of Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, botanist and perfumer, who reworked the Jardin Majorelle and created its scent.
The quiet of the palm grove
A few kilometres from the centre, away from the crowds at the medina sites.
When to go
For the cool of the garden before the heat.
It's a few kilometres out, on the Fès road: plan the trip.
Rose garden and gardens at their best.
Visitor tips
In the morning, for the garden in the cool.
Turning up on impulse: it's in the palm grove, out of the centre.
- Factor in the trip: museum at Dar Tounsi, on the Fès road, out of the centre - taxi or car.
- The ticket covers the museum and the garden; free for under-9s.
- Pair with a walk in the palm grove rather than with the medina.
Location & access
In the palm grove, at Dar Tounsi, on the Fès road, a few kilometres from the centre. No practical public transport: taxi or car.
