Le Jardin Secret, the Jardin Majorelle, and Water in Marrakech, Morocco
Here in Marrakech, it’s fascinating to notice the role -- and omnipresence -- of water.
Shopkeepers splash it half-reverently across sidewalks to clean them, using so little that the gesture seems more symbolic than practical.
Showers lack any sort of curtains or walls, allowing the water to soak the bathroom and revealing a perspective on water that’s welcoming (rather than full of concern about mold).
Even the bathrooms at restaurants almost always lack hand towels, leaving you with no way to dry your hands -- as if you should appreciate their brief wetness (before the heat dries them for you) rather than rush to get it off.
Nowhere is this reverence for and appreciation of water more clear than in Marrakech’s gardens. We’ve explored the most famous two, Le Jardin Secret (or “the Secret Garden”) and Jardin Majorelle. At both, the heart of the garden wasn’t plants, but rather water.
Le Jardin Secret
Located amid the tangled maze of Marrakech’s souks, Le Jardin Secret is literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air. For 50 dirhams (or around ~$5.50), you can escape from the bustle and step into an oasis where the chaos of the souks seems a world away.
The air drifts through, scented with citrus and jasmine, and only the faintest hint of city sounds on the breeze reminds you that you aren’t in a remote countryside villa.
As soon as you pay the entrance fee, you’ll walk past a small fountain with a path of water leading deeper into the gardens. Exploration will bring you past several elegant buildings with gauzy white curtains that ripple like waves in the breeze. On the far side of the largest building is a holding pool for water with a few lazy turtles swimming around or basking in the sun.
In the center of the garden is a gazebo shading a small fountain bubbling with brilliantly clear water. Surrounding it are shaded benches where, for a small price, staff from the cafe overlooking the garden will bring you traditional mint tea or a cooling (virgin) cocktail.
On your way out of the gardens, bear left to find the ruins of an old hammam, or bath house. While not much of it is left today, you’ll be able to see enough to gain an even deeper appreciation of the role of water in the gardens.
Entry fee (as of September 2017): 50 dirhams, or around $5.50 USD
Pros: easy to get there, located in the souks, less crowded than Jardin Majorelle, lovely cafe with amazing drinks
Cons: fairly small, doesn’t take long to see the whole thing, hard to find until you know how to navigate the souks (unless you’re lucky!)
Website: http://lejardinsecretmarrakech.com/en/
Jardin Majorelle
The Jardin Majorelle, or Majorelle Garden, is located in Marrakech’s stylish Gueliz neighborhood. It’s as different as can be from the Secret Garden, with so many visitors lined up to buy tickets that we almost decided to turn around and leave. Having walked nearly half an hour from our riad (and without other ideas for our video for this week!), we decided to brave it out.
I’m glad we did. While the inside wasn’t an oasis of peace by any means (thanks to the overwhelming crowds), it offers moments of striking beauty and handles the water question in a whole different way than Le Jardin Secret.
Instead of offering a bounty of green lushness that almost flaunts its own use of water, the Jardin Majorelle features hundreds of species of drought-tolerant plants in a visibly low-water landscaping style. Cacti, succulents, and towering palm trees ensure that you can’t help but notice you’re in a dry garden, not one bursting with unnecessary water use.
Punctuating this near-aridness are several stunning pools of water, full of fish, turtles, and frogs. Instead of blending into the scene, they stand out in a defiant celebration of contrasts that makes them even more inviting while emphasizing the dryness of the surrounding gardens.
The predominant colors of the architecture and decor (such as the pots for the occasional potted plant) are a vibrant blue and an almost painfully bright yellow. It goes back to those contrasts again -- the pure blue we associate with water and the yellow of sunlight, of the desert, of sand, of dryness.
In a way, these contrasts apply to the experience, too; the gardens hint at peace, quiet, and solitude, while being so full of visitors that you can only notice the absence of those coveted things.
Where the Secret Garden allows you to bask in an oasis of peace and the lushness created by an abundance of water, the Jardin Majorelle asks you to take a step back and notice their scarcity.
Entry fee (as of September 2017): 70 dirhams, or around $7.70 USD
Pros: beautiful gardens, hundreds of plant species to discover, historic connection to Yves Saint-Laurent (and his final resting place)
Cons: crowded, additional fee to see the Berber Museum inside, a 30-minute walk from Marrakech’s main square.
Website: http://jardinmajorelle.com/ang/