For more than half a century, the Majorelle Garden has been a unique landmark of Marrakech. This small in size garden welcomes more than half a million visitors every year. The creator of this amazing garden was the French artist Jacques Majorelle, who was also a passionate botanist and plant collector. Visiting Morocco for the first time in 1919, the Frenchman was so genuinely captivated by the beauty of this country that he decided to purchase a plot of land here, where he soon built a house and planted a garden.
Thanks to his excellent knowledge of exotic plants, Jacques Majorelle was able to assemble in his garden an amazing collection of flora from all continents of the globe. From all his many travels he brought back new plants which he carefully planted in the garden. In 1947 the garden received its first visitors.
After Majorelle's death in 1962, the garden gradually began to decline and there were even proposals to demolish it. Fortunately, the entire area was purchased by the famous French couturier Yves Saint Laurent, who not only saved Majorelle's creation, but restored and beautified it.
Today, many visitors can still see more than 350 species of unique plants and flowers in Majorelle's garden. There is a magnificent collection of North American and Mexican cacti, various palms and bamboos, Asian lotuses and many other amazing plants. At the entrance to the garden is equipped with a beautiful fountain, from it stretches a small shady bamboo alley with cosy benches for rest. On the main avenue, which leads to the house, there is a long pond and a small gazebo drowning in greenery, made in the traditional Moroccan style.
Today, Jacques Majorelle's old studio, painted in bright blue, houses the Museum of Islamic Art. In addition to beautiful works of Islamic art, it also displays the French artist's unique watercolours of Moroccan nature and the private collections of Yves Saint Laurent.
