tifahtravels
Colorful markets, secret gardens, grand houses and palaces, small winding alleys, breathtaking desert… Marrakech is beautifully chaotic with a rich history dating back almost 1.000 years. Today it is home to an incredibly pulsating energy that invites you to wander aimlessly in search of stunning architecture, a cup of mint tea and maybe a spicy Tagine.
Words: José Berrocoso Photography: Jesús del Pino & Visit Marrakech
58
A colourful, bursting metropolis within the North African country of Morocco, Marrakech is a cultural and trading epicenter and a wonderful travel destination. It is one of Morocco’s imperial cities, a Berber/Arab fortress settlement often referred to as the Red City, because of its pink-tinted buildings, nestles like a rose-quartz gemstone near the rolling foothills of the snow-capped High Atlas Mountains. However during the nine centuries of its history, Marrakech has accumulated a significant green heritage. Since its creation in the 11th century, the town has become a model garden-city. The urban part of the Medina was then surrounded by a green ring of orchards and vegetable gardens. Since then, some districts have taken the names of their gardens (Arsat Missiouni, Arsat Chbani, Arsat El Bardii...).
JUNE 2022
More than just an oasis, Marrakesh is a real garden city. The four corners of the city offer green spaces reflecting the passion the Marrakchis have for the art of gardening. Since the city was created by the Almoravides in the 11th century, it has been a model garden city. The total area covered by the green spaces is about 350 ha not including the Palmeraie (palm grove) (10,000 hectares), the olive grove of the Menara (80 hectares). All those spaces offer the ochre city an average of 11- sq.m green space per inhabitant (the world of cial ratio is 10 sq.m. green space per inhabitant). Knowing, that these last years a new generation of art and ecological gardens, was born or spirit to be born, in Marrakesh, to enrich even more the city-garden.
