Menara Gardens
Jnane el-MenaraMenara Gardens, Marrakech: pavilion hours, ticket prices and tips for the Almohad olive groves and great basin west of the city walls.
The Menara is a vast olive orchard with a great water basin at its heart, west of the city walls. The Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min laid it out around 1157.
The basin, about 195 by 160 metres, is fed by khettaras, underground channels that bring water from the Atlas foothills. Raised above the trees, it waters the orchard by gravity.
The green-roofed pavilion on the basin's edge was rebuilt by Sultan Muhammad IV on the ruins of a Saadian one; an inscription dates it to 1869–1870. Its upper balcony looks over the water, and on clear days the High Atlas stands behind it.
The view is the classic postcard, but the rest is mostly olive trees in rows. Go for a walk and the light, not for flowers.
Good to know
- Little shade around the basin itself; the olive groves are cooler.
- The Atlas view behind the pavilion is clearest in winter.
- Photos are allowed.
Sources: e-services.minculture.gov.ma, e-services.minculture.gov.ma, en.wikipedia.org