Le Jardin Secret is a remarkable 'new' garden in the Marrakech medina. Here’s everything you need to know about this delightful haven of tranquillity.
Origins of le Jardin Secret. Situated among the narrow, winding alleys and lanes of the city’s famous souks, just to the north of the central square, Jemaa el Fna, Le Jardin Secret has its origins in the latter part of the 16th century. A former palace on this site was destroyed after the Saadian dynasty’s decline in the late 17th century but a new one, respecting the Saadian era’s original layout for the complex, was soon built to replace it. During the 1930s, maintenance of the complex ceased and it fell into disrepair. It was not until 2008 that the idea to recreate the gardens took root and, in 2018, Le Jardin Secret, after a long programme of research and construction, opened its doors to the public for the first time.
The Creation of a New Garden in Marrakech
Created by an international team of designers & engineers and based on what was believed to be the 18th century layout, the complex now features two beautifully recreated, highly distinctive gardens – an exotic one and an Islamic one - the four-part symmetrical layout of which has been designed in accordance with the rigid geometrical rules through which Muslim order is said ‘to assert itself over nature’s wild disorder’.
Brought from the High Atlas to the grand palaces of Marrakech by subterranean irrigation channels – a remarkably impressive engineering feat, the results of which are today clear for all to see - water forms an essential element of Moorish gardens and the fountains situated at their centre are considered, in oriental tradition, to be at their heart, reflecting paradise as described within the Koran.
Le Jardin Secret Today. In addition to its two delighgtful gardens, this exquisite oasis of peace and tranquillity also features a museum where visitors can learn, through audio-visual presentations, more about the history of the site and its former palace as well as the story behind the contemporary project to recreate them in line with Moroccan tradition.
The complex includes a small bar and rooftop cafeteria, the ideal place to sit back and take in the peaceful, historic atmosphere of this outstanding new attraction.