Majorelle Garden

The Majorelle Gardens were built a French artist named Jacques Majorelle, who arrived in Morroco in 1917 to rest after a period of extreme bad health. After traveling extensively around North Africa and the Mediterranean he decided to return and settle in Marrakesh, marrying and building a Moroccan-style house. Several years later he decided to extend the property, buying more land and commissioning Paul Sinoir to build a Cubist villa. He then spent the next 40 years developing the Jardins Majorelle, which include tiled paths, beautiful water features, and a large collection of cacti, other desert plants, palm trees, and bamboo. The upkeep of the garden proved difficult, especially after Majorelle’s divorce in the 1950s left him in financial difficulties. He was forced to sell the house and gardens, and over the next 30 years, they were neglected. By the time the gardens were rediscovered by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, the house and gardens were in need of extensive restoration. The Majorelle Gardens are also notable for the use of Majorelle Blue, a color developed by Majorelle after he was inspired by the bright decorative tiles used throughout Morocco. The intense color is the ideal backdrop for pictures and is particularly popular with Instagrammers.

Yves Saint Laurent, the legendary fashion designer, was born in Algeria in 1936. After being made head designer at Dior at the tender age of 21, he later founded his own fashion house in 1961 where he developed several iconic looks, most famously the tuxedo jacket for women. He was well known on the party scene in Paris and New York as someone who enjoyed the wilder aspects of the nightlife, but in between preparing collections, he and his long-term partner Pierre Bergé spent a lot of time in Marrakesh. They had discovered the Majorelle Gardens together in 1966 but only bought the property in 1980 in order to prevent it from being demolished and replaced by a hotel complex. They renamed the Villa Bou Saf Saf to the Villa Oasis and turned it into a home. They also restored the gardens and irrigation systems, added new species of plant, and hired a team of gardeners to ensure that the gardens will remain in perfect condition. The Jardin Majorelle proved to be a useful home for Saint Laurent, who often spoke about how the bright colors inspired him in his work. Yves Saint Laurent died in Paris in 2008, but his ashes were scattered in the garden of the Villa Oasis, where visitors can also see a memorial erected by Bergé, who died in 2017. Saint Laurent was also responsible for the founding of the Berber Museum, which can be found in his former studio and contains many of the artworks and cultural items collected by the designer during his lifetime. The street outside the Majorelle Gardens has also been renamed to the Rue Yves Saint Laurent in his honor.

The Berber Museum, also called the Museum of Islamic Art, can be found in the former workshop of Yves Saint Laurent. The collection is split into three sections: Domestic Life and Traditional Skills, Ornaments and Jewels, and Costumes and Finery. Many of the exhibits were collected by Saint Laurent himself, as he was fascinated by Berber culture and found inspiration in their art and clothing design. Down the street from the Jardin Majorelle, you’ll find the Musée Yves Saint Laurent, the twin of the museum in Paris. The permanent collection features 50 iconic pieces by the designer, arranged according to themes he repeatedly returned: the boundaries between masculine and feminine, “Black, Africa, and Morocco”, imaginary voyages, and gardens and art. Temporary exhibits rotate throughout the year and tend to focus on artists in various disciplines who have been inspired by Morocco and Marrakesh. The Yves Saint Laurent Museum is closed on Wednesdays but is open every other day from 10 am to 6 pm or 5 pm during Ramadan. A combined ticket is available for the museum and the Majorelle Gardens.

Many tours of Marrakesh include a guided visit to the Majorelle Gardens, which means you can combine your visit with stops at many of Marrakesh’s other important sights. Your tour guide will be able to provide some context for what you’re seeing, and it might be more interesting to hear the stories of the house and gardens from a local who can also take the time to answer questions. However, the gardens themselves are not complicated to visit, and you’ll have no problem exploring by yourself if you decide you’d rather visit independently.