Maud’s Travels Marrakech Part 2
Three Things To Do In Marrakech
1. Take a stroll in the Majorelle Gardens
The Majorelle Gardens were created by the French painter, Jacques Majorelle, in 1923 and opened to the public in 1947. Majorelle was passionate about plants and collected rare species from all over the world on his travels.
The gardens have been designed with a painter’s eye. Majorelle cleverly used pops of bold cobalt “Majorelle” blue, lemon, orange and green on the walkways, buildings and planters in the gardens which contrast beautifully with the surrounding greenery.
Majorelle died in 1962 and the gardens were save from developers by pierre Berger and Yves St Laurent. They restored the gardens, adding lots of new plants, there are now over 300 varieties and an irrigation system.
It’s a lovely place to stroll through in the morning before it becomes busy. I recommend getting there at 8am if you want to enjoy the peace and quiet and take some photos.
2. Visit the Berber museum
The Berber museum is located within the Majorelle gardens in Jacques Majorelle’s old studio. The exhibits are from Pierre Berger and Yves St Laurent’s private collection of Berber artifacts which centres around objects and tools used in daily life, Berber jewellery and tribal clothing. It’s a fascinating insight into the history of the oldest people in North Africa.
3. Visit the new Yves St Laurent museum
Yves designed his haute couture collections in Marrakech. The Yves St Laurent museum contains a collection of fifty items of clothing, accessories, sketches and photographs. You can see St Laurent’s famous pea coat, Mali dress and Le Smoking jacket. It’s clear from the drawings and prototypes the influence of Morocco and travel on his designs.
The museum was designed by Parisian architects Studio KO who have used clever brickwork patterns to create a textured surface resembling woven thread. The brickwork echoes the colours of the Medina and the interior features wonderful zelig tiles.
Practicalities
The Majorelle Gardens, the Berber museum and the Yves St. Laurent museum are all situated on Rue Yves St Laurent in Gueliz in Marrakech. You can buy an entry ticket to all three attractions online here.
In addition to these three things to do in Marrakech take a look at these posts:
- For garden lovers: Le Jardin Secret
Take a look at our collection of hand-woven Moroccan blankets here.
