Majorelle Gardens, Marrakesh

French Colonialism Complex

The gardens were originally created to surround the villa of the French painter Jacques Majorelle, who, in 1923, decided to build a Berber-style home for himself.
The result is a harmonious complex capable of blending colors, decorative elements and a rich vegetation worthy of note. Today, in fact, the Majorelle Gardens represent a famous example of a botanical garden capable of attracting many tourists.

The garden is divided into four main areas, each accessible via a pedestrian path. The intersections of these paths create lush green spaces, filled with plantings and trees from around the world.

The verdant complex includes Majorelle's villa, a large lily pond and smaller pools inhabited by carp.
Furthermore, there are numerous types of palm trees and succulent plants and some architectural elements such as fountains and small temples.

The characterizing element of the garden is the color "Majorelle Blue“, a particular cobalt blue shade used by the painter to paint the walls of architectural artefacts and decorative components.
Another characterizing element is represented by the tiles "Zellige“, carefully chosen to decorate Majorelle's villa.

After the painter's death, a period followed during which the garden remained unused, but in the 1980s the designer Yves Saint Laurent purchased the complex.
Numerous renovations followed on the villa which nevertheless retained the intense blue colour typical of Berber village buildings.
Today, part of the aforementioned residence has been converted into a museum housing traditional Moroccan objects and elements of Berber craftsmanship.