The place behind the detail.

The Almohad caliph Abd al-Mu’min founded the Menara Gardens in 1157. The estate is about 1,200 metres long and up to 800 metres wide, and its orchard is still mostly olive trees, with fruit trees and cypresses, planted in a regular grid.

At its heart is a basin about 195 by 160 metres, filled by underground channels from the foot of the High Atlas and built above the orchards so its water could reach them by gravity.

The pavilion has two floors under a pyramid roof of green tiles. A triple-arched portico opens onto the water, with a balcony above it framed by a blind arch and an inscription band.

Its decoration is restrained: ochre walls, corners painted to look like brickwork, painted wooden ceilings and doors, and carved and painted plaster around the doors and windows.

• Explore the history of the gardens→

The Saadians built a first pavilion in the 16th century. In the 19th century the Alaouite sultans Moulay Abd ar-Rahman and Muhammad IV restored and replanted the Menara and the Agdal gardens, and Muhammad IV’s pavilion was completed in 1870.

This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.

• Read the history of the gardens→
• Explore the timeline→