Agdal Gardens

The Agdal was laid out by the Almohads in the twelfth century as a productive royal estate rather than an ornamental garden - about four hundred hectares of olive, orange, pomegranate, fig and apricot in blocks divided by walled paths, running two kilometres south from the kasbah. The engineering is the point: it is watered by khettara, underground tunnels dug from the water table in the Atlas foothills that bring water by gravity for many kilometres without evaporating, feeding large open basins that both store water and irrigate by gravity from there. The largest, the Sahraj el-Hana, is a reservoir the size of a small lake with a pavilion beside it, and it was used for boating and, at least once with fatal results, for royal outings. The gardens are part of the UNESCO medina inscription. Opening is unpredictable - they close entirely when the palace is in use.

History

Gardens with artificial lakes, known as buhayra, little sea, ringed Marrakesh from the time the Almoravids founded the city in 1070, but the Agdal itself was created by the Almohads: its largest reservoir, now called the Dar al-Hana basin, is believed to date from the reign of Abu Ya'qub Yusuf, 1163-1184, and the gardens were designed by Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Milhan, an engineer of Berber origin from al-Andalus who grew rich on the sultan's favour, while scholars differ on whether the second reservoir, al-Gharsiyya, is Almohad or Alaouite. At the end of the 12th century Ya'qub al-Mansur built the kasbah and royal palaces on the south side of the city, and through the following centuries the gardens went through cycles of decline and renewal, revived under the Saadians and used for recreation by the early Alaouite sultans. Work begun in the 19th century was finished under Muhammad IV, who ruled from 1859 to 1873, the Dar al-Bayda palace was completed by Moulay Hassan after 1883, and in 1985 the Agdal became part of the Marrakesh World Heritage Site with the medina and the Menara gardens (Wikipedia, Agdal Gardens).

What's there

• A productive royal estate - four hundred hectares of orchard rather than ornamental planting.
• Khettara engineering - underground tunnels bringing water by gravity from the foothills.
• The great basin - a reservoir the size of a small lake with a pavilion beside it.
• Twelfth-century layout - Almohad blocks and walled paths still legible.

When to go

October to April. Two hours. Check whether it is open before going.

Things to know

Opening is unreliable and the gardens close entirely when the royal household is in residence. There is no interpretation on site. It is a working orchard, not a manicured garden - much of it is plain. Distances inside are long and there is little shade on the paths.

Nearby

The Menara gardens are west; the kasbah and Saadian tombs are north.

Key facts