The Menara Gardens ( ar, حدائق المنارة) are a historic public garden and

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech ( or ; ar, مراكش, murrākuš, ; ber, ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ, translit=mṛṛakc}) is the fourth largest city in the Kingdom of Morocco. It is one of the four Imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakes ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

. They were established in the 12th century (circa 1157) by the

Almohad Caliphate The Almohad Caliphate (; ar, خِلَافَةُ ٱلْمُوَحِّدِينَ or or from ar, ٱلْمُوَحِّدُونَ, translit=al-Muwaḥḥidūn, lit=those who profess the unity of God) was a North African Berber Muslim empire ...

ruler

Abd al-Mu'min Abd al Mu'min (c. 1094–1163) ( ar, عبد المؤمن بن علي or عبد المومن الــكـومي; full name: ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿAlī ibn ʿAlwī ibn Yaʿlā al-Kūmī Abū Muḥammad) was a prominent member of the Almohad mov ...

. Along with the Agdal Gardens and the historic walled city of Marrakesh, the gardens have been listed as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

since 1985. The gardens are laid out around a central water basin and

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contr ...

, next to which is a pleasure

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

dating in its current form from the 19th century. The reservoir and its pavilion, often framed in pictures against the background of the High Atlas Mountains to the south, are considered one of the iconic views and symbols of Marrakesh.

Etymology

The origin of the name ''Menara'' for the gardens is not firmly established. The name's first appearance (as ''Sahrij al-Manāra'') in historical sources is in 1579, during the

Saadian The Saadi Sultanate (also rendered in English as Sa'di, Sa'did, Sa'dian, or Saadian; ar, السعديون, translit=as-saʿdiyyūn) was a state which ruled present-day Morocco and parts of West Africa in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was l ...

period. The

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

word ''menara'' (منارَة) variously means "

minaret A minaret (; ar, منارة, translit=manāra, or ar, مِئْذَنة, translit=miʾḏana, links=no; tr, minare; fa, گل‌دسته, translit=goldaste) is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generall ...

", "lighthouse", "lantern/beacon" or other elevated structures of the kind. It is often suggested that this refers to the two-story pavilion standing on the edge of the main reservoir. However, other historians, such as Gaston Deverdun, have suggested that the name could date from as far back as the Almohad period (long before the current pavilion's construction) and that it may be an allusion to the minaret of the Kutubiyya Mosque to the northeast, which was founded and begun under Abd al-Mu'min's reign and with which the gardens were more or less aligned.

History

The tradition of creating gardens on the outskirts of the city began early with the

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that s ...

who founded Marrakesh in 1070. Multiple gardens, estates, and artificial lakes were established in multiple sites outside the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

, often referred to as ''buḥā'ir'' – singular ''Buḥayra'' – an Arabic word meaning "little sea", presumably in reference to the artificial lakes and large water basins. These garden estates continued to exist and develop under the Almohads who conquered the city in the 12th century. The Menara Gardens were first established by

, the Almohad ruler who conquered the city, in 1157. This dating has been deduced by scholars from historical chronicles describing Abd al-Mu'min's construction of an enormous garden estate west of the city which contained two large water reservoirs. One of these reservoirs is the current one seen at the gardens today (although it was probably slightly modified in later restorations). The second reservoir in question is believed to be the ''Sahrij al-Bgar'' (or ''Sahrij al-Baqar''), located outside and southeast of the Menara Gardens today, a short distance west of Bab Ighli and the Agdal Gardens. Its name, meaning "basin of the cows", may be a reference to either a nearby cattle market at the time or to the raising of bulls for bullfighting which took place here under the later Caliph al-Mustansir. The ''Sahrij al-Bgar'' is no longer in use and lies empty today, but was probably part of the same garden estate at the time. This vast estate was in turn enclosed by a 6-mile-long wall (absent today). The Menara's location to the west of the city walls is also consistent with the fact that Abd al-Mu'min still used the former Almoravid palace, the ''Ksar al-Hajjar'' (located next to the present-day site of the Kutubiyya Mosque), as his residence. The gardens are also perfectly aligned with ''Bab al-Makhzen'', the western gate of the city, near the palace, which Abd al-Mu'min would have likely used to go in and out of the city. The later palaces of the

Kasbah A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

, founded by the Almohads and to which the Agdal Gardens are connected today, were not yet built. The Agdal Gardens to the south of the city, in turn, were traditionally believed to date from Abd al-Mu'min's time as well but have been more conclusively dated to the reign of his successor

Abu Ya'qub Yusuf Abu Ya`qub Yusuf or Yusuf I ( ''Abū Ya‘qūb Yūsuf''; 1135 – 14 October 1184) was the second Almohad ''Amir'' or caliph. He reigned from 1163 until 1184 in Marrakesh. He was responsible for the construction of the Giralda in Seville, whic ...

. In early sources the garden and its location was also called ''Shuntululya''. The gardens were likely designed by an engineer from Malaga (

Al-Andalus Al-Andalus translit. ; an, al-Andalus; ast, al-Ándalus; eu, al-Andalus; ber, ⴰⵏⴷⴰⵍⵓⵙ, label= Berber, translit=Andalus; ca, al-Àndalus; gl, al-Andalus; oc, Al Andalús; pt, al-Ândalus; es, al-Ándalus () was the M ...

) named Hajj al-Ya'ish, who was also responsible for designing other mechanical projects under Abd al-Mu'min such as the automated ''

maqsura ''Maqsurah'' ( ar, مقصورة, literally "closed-off space") is an enclosure, box, or wooden screen near the ''mihrab'' or the center of the '' qibla'' wall in a mosque. It was typically reserved for a Muslim ruler and his entourage, and was ...

'' and ''minbar'' of the Kutubiyya Mosque. One historical source, the Ḥulal al-Mawshiyya, describes how the estate's second water basin (the ''Sahrij al-Bgar'') was used at one point to train the ''ḥuffāẓ'' (singular ''ḥāfiẓ''; meaning " Qur'an reader") how to swim. The gardens and the city underwent a period of decline after the fall of the Almohads in the 13th century, when the Marinids moved the capital to Fez. When the Saadian dynasty made Marrakesh the capital again in the 16th century, they also restored the gardens of the city. It was the Saadians who initially built a pleasure pavilion overlooking the water reservoir. However, the gardens owe their current condition to the reigns of the

Alaouite The Alawi dynasty ( ar, سلالة العلويين الفيلاليين, translit=sulālat al-ʿalawiyyīn al-fīlāliyyīn) – also rendered in English as Alaouite, Alawid, or Alawite – is the current Moroccan royal family and reigning d ...

sultans Moulay Abd ar-Rahman (ruled 1822–1859) and his son Muhammad IV (ruled 1859–1873), who restored and replanted both the Menara and Agdal gardens. Under the reign of Abd ar-Rahman, his son Muhammad was

viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

in Marrakesh and was responsible for carrying a part of the works, which then continued when Muhammad himself became sultan after his father. In addition to replanting the orchards and restoring the city's water supply system, Muhammad also built the current pavilion on the ruins of the old Saadian one, completed in 1870. (Note: a smaller number of sources cite the earlier 18th-century Alaouite sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah, who restored and built many other structures in Marrakesh, as the one who restored the Menara Gardens, although the pavilion's construction is precisely dated thanks to an inscription on the archway of its balcony.) Up until the early 20th century the gardens were also used to raise ostriches, in line with a long tradition of sultans using wild animals to impress and entertain visitors.

Description

Geography

The gardens are located on a topographically flat area west of the city, outside the historic city walls and very close to the

Menara Airport Marrakesh Menara Airport ( ber, ⴰⵣⴰⴳⵯⵣ ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ ⵎⵉⵏⴰⵕⴰ, french: link=no, Aéroport Marrakech Ménara, ar, مطار مراكش المنارة, ) is an international airport serving Marrakesh, The water reservoir has a rectangular shape 195 meters long and 160 meters wide.

Orchards

Royal Moroccan gardens like the Menara were designed for a primarily productive

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

purpose, with its recreational purpose coming second. While there have not been many comprehensive

archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...

investigations of these gardens, historical texts provide some information about what was planted here and in other gardens like the Agdal. Throughout their history they were planted similar types of trees and crops, mostly fruit and olive trees. Today the orchard still consists mostly of olive trees and to a lesser extent fruit trees and cypress trees. The trees are planted in a regular 10-meter grid.

Irrigation and water supply

The orchards are watered via an irrigation system which required regular maintenance. During periods of neglect and decline in the city's history, they were prone to

desertification Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused ...

. The creation of large water basins was designed to store large amounts of water which could be used to water the gardens year-round, even during the winter when rivers and other sources were typically dry. Water was brought to the city and to the gardens by a network of ''khettara''s: an ancient method where underground channels were dug at a steady gradient from lowland areas to tap directly into the phreatic table of upland areas (in this case the nearby High Atlas Mountains). The water reservoir of the Menara is in turn built above ground so that the surrounding orchards, located at the lower ground level, could be watered with the help of gravity. The walkway around the reservoir is reached by various stairs. At the foot of the stairs on the northeast side is a small ornamental octagonal basin and former fountain.

The pavilion

The 19th century pavilion or ''menzeh'', built in stone, has a rectangular floor plan, two floors, and is topped by a pyramidal green-tiled roof. It has been described as a classic example of royal pavilion architecture in Morocco during the Alaouite period. The first floor, which was functional and used for domestic purposes, consists of a large room between four heavy pillars, plus an exterior triple-arched

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

that projects northwards and opens onto the edge of the artificial lake. An entrance doorway is also located on the south side of the building. The upper floor is reached via a steep straight staircase. This upper floor consists of a large square room, with a low rectangular door that leads to a rectangular balcony on its north side on top of the projecting ground-floor portico. The low door was possibly made this way to prevent public onlookers below from seeing inside the building when it was open. The staircase to the upper floor also continues to the roof, where a much smaller balcony on the south side provided views over the orchards and towards the Atlas Mountains. The pavilion is also set inside its own small garden area enclosed by its another wall, separating it from the rest of the public grounds around it. As with other Alaouite structures of the 18th-19th centuries, the decoration of the pavilion is relatively austere compared to earlier periods of

Moroccan architecture Moroccan architecture refers to the architecture characteristic of Morocco throughout its history and up to modern times. The country's diverse geography and long history, marked by successive waves of settlers through both migration and militar ...

. On the exterior, the corners and edges of the pavilion's walls are painted to look like

brickwork Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by si ...

, while geometric and epigraphic decoration are painted around the southern entrance doorway and around some of the windows. The door to the northern balcony overlooking the water is framed on the outside by a large, prominent, semi-circular blind arch highlighted with a keystone motif. The

spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...

s of the arch are painted with

arabesque The arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foli ...

motifs, above which a narrow horizontal band is filled by an Arabic inscription that includes the completion date of the building (1286 AH). All the painted decoration is executed in

ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...

colours on a layer of

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

that covers the outside and inside of the building. The interior chambers of the building have decoration consisting of painted lines that highlight the groin vault ceilings,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

carved and painted with geometric patterns around the windows and doors, and painted wood ceilings and door leaves. File:Menara DSCF8320.jpg, View of the pavilion and its surrounding walled enclosure on the edge of the reservoir File:Menara Garden (Marrakech, Moroc) 09.jpg, The inner garden enclosure around the pavilion File:Menara pabellón. 14.jpg, The southern entrance to the pavilion File:Menera (retouched).jpg, Painted decoration around the blind archway over the northern balcony File:Menara pabellón. 08.jpg, Interior of the pavilion, with stucco decoration around a window File:Menara pabellón. 10.jpg, Painted decoration around a vaulted ceiling File:Menara pabellón. 06.jpg, Painted wood ceiling in the pavilion

References

{{Marrakesh Buildings and structures completed in 1130 Islamic gardens Gardens in Morocco Buildings and structures in Marrakesh Almohad architecture 'Alawi architecture Cross country running venues