Nicknamed €˜the rose among the palms€, the thousand-year-old city of Marrakesh is characterised by its pink-colored pis© architecture and its deeply rooted tradition for gardens and green spaces.
The majority of historic sites are inextricable from their gardens €“ or indeed are historic green spaces: the huge royal orchard pleasure-gardens of the Agdal were described by Monty Don as €˜of international cultural importance on a par with Versailles or Villa d€Este€.
Scores of traditional riads and hotels like the Mamounia, created by the French in 1923 on the site of an eighteenth-century royal residence, offer splendid gardens to the visitor. Yves Saint Laurent€s Majorelle garden is an icon of modern garden design.
The first book to be published on this fascinating subject, Gardens of Marrakesh champions the city€s relevance today in a world of water scarcity and urban development and explores its green heritage, considering some twenty gardens both from an historic and cultural perspective.
