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El Badi Palace
Marrakech, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks
An Apollonaut travel guide
A city of gardens and walls.
An introduction to the great gardens of Marrakech and the city around the Menara, from its water channels to its painted ceilings.
On this page
Read the city from its gardens
The medina of Marrakech is a World Heritage site, and its two great historic gardens, the Menara to the west and the Agdal to the south, lie just outside the walls. Both were watered by channels from the Atlas and planted mostly with olives and fruit trees.
A city guide can give context without turning a neighbourhood into a backdrop. Notice how a basin stores water, how a pavilion frames a view, or how rows of trees mark out an orchard. Respect homes, working businesses and places of worship.
Earth, plaster and painted wood
Ochre walls, carved and painted plaster, painted wooden ceilings and green glazed roof tiles give the pavilion its character, as they do many buildings in the city.
Begin with a material and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who painted a ceiling or carved a band of plaster, or the conditions in which they worked.
A Menara chapter
The Menara shows how water shaped Marrakech: a basin raised above the orchards, filled by channels dug across the plain, with a pavilion set at its edge to look across it.
Look at the meeting of the two: a practical reservoir for the orchards, and a pavilion that turns it into a view.
Make room for context
Pair this city reading with the gardens’ history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their restoration or represents their makers.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
