The Menara Gardens

The Menara is not a flower garden but a working agricultural landscape that has survived since the Almohad period: a large rectangular reservoir fed by a channel from the mountains, surrounded by an olive grove of many hectares. It was built to irrigate the orchards and it still does. On the basin's edge stands a green-roofed pavilion, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, and the classic view is of it mirrored in the water with the High Atlas behind, which works properly only when the peaks are snowy and the air is clear. Locals use the grove as a park, walking, sitting and fishing at the basin, and entry to the grounds is free.

What you actually see

• The basin and pavilion - the reservoir with the green-roofed building at its end.
• The Atlas view - the mountains behind the water on clear winter days.
• The olive grove - hectares of old olives still irrigated from the basin.
• The water channels - the irrigation system that feeds the reservoir.

When to go

Winter and early spring are when the Atlas is snow-capped and the famous view actually appears; in summer haze the mountains often vanish altogether. Late afternoon light is best on the pavilion. Weekends and evenings bring local families out to the grove. Water levels drop in dry years, so the reflection is not always there.

Honest expectations

The gardens are plainer than photographs suggest: a big pool, a lot of olive trees and dusty paths, with the mountains frequently invisible through haze. The basin water is green and can smell. Entry to the pavilion is charged and its interior is bare. Persistent guides and photographers work the basin edge. It is a half hour stop rather than an afternoon.

Nearby

The Koutoubia and the medina are a short drive east, and the Agdal gardens lie south of the city.