One of the places in Marrakech I most wanted to visit — Jardin de Majorelle — was first up this morning. The garden is a small paradise tucked into a neighborhood in the new town (Ville Nouvelle). Previously known as Jardin Bou Saf, it was originally created in 1923 by Jacques Majorelle, a French painter for whom it is presently named.
Born in Nancy, France in 1886, Marjoreele was the son of the celebrated Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jacques Majorelle traveled to Morocco to recuperate from heart problems and fell in love with its light. Easy to understand why . . . it is no coincidence that my Nuest'a name is "Prism" — light bring out the beauty, mystery and romance in even the most mundane things, and has always been my muse!
Anyway, I digress . . . Majorelle built a Moorish villa around which he designed his fabulous garden. While still alive, he opened the garden to the public. Throughout the garden is the painter used a special vibrant shade of blue, which is named after him — Majorelle Blue. He is also credited for painting a magnificent ceiling at La Mamounia, the five-star hotel we plan to visit while in Marrakech to tour its gardens.
After his death the couturier Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought the property and stunningly restored the gardens. They are pristine . . . four walkways lead us through the brightly colored tropical plants. Silently, gardeners pick up any leaf or petal litter and rake crushed stone that covers much of the soil. Saint-Laurent transformed Majorelle's art studio in a small museum, which I wished we had seen at the start of our Moroccan adventure — here exquisitely displayed are the finest examples of regional antique carpets, Fassi ceramics, Berber doors and jewelry, and engravings made by Jacques Marjorelle of villages and kasbahs of the Atlas Mountains.
Our enthusiasm for what we saw in the museum helped our city guide to "get us" and realize that we were interested in the finer, more higher-quality Moroccan handicrafts and jewelry than what is typically sold in the souks. After the making several purchases of books and small colorful leather pills designed by Saint-Laurant, we were off to a fabulous antique and artifact shop — Amazonite Antiquités Objts d'Arts — in the new town.
Born in Nancy, France in 1886, Marjoreele was the son of the celebrated Art Nouveau furniture designer Louis Majorelle. After studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jacques Majorelle traveled to Morocco to recuperate from heart problems and fell in love with its light. Easy to understand why . . . it is no coincidence that my Nuest'a name is "Prism" — light bring out the beauty, mystery and romance in even the most mundane things, and has always been my muse!
Anyway, I digress . . . Majorelle built a Moorish villa around which he designed his fabulous garden. While still alive, he opened the garden to the public. Throughout the garden is the painter used a special vibrant shade of blue, which is named after him — Majorelle Blue. He is also credited for painting a magnificent ceiling at La Mamounia, the five-star hotel we plan to visit while in Marrakech to tour its gardens.
After his death the couturier Yves Saint-Laurent and his partner Pierre Bergé bought the property and stunningly restored the gardens. They are pristine . . . four walkways lead us through the brightly colored tropical plants. Silently, gardeners pick up any leaf or petal litter and rake crushed stone that covers much of the soil. Saint-Laurent transformed Majorelle's art studio in a small museum, which I wished we had seen at the start of our Moroccan adventure — here exquisitely displayed are the finest examples of regional antique carpets, Fassi ceramics, Berber doors and jewelry, and engravings made by Jacques Marjorelle of villages and kasbahs of the Atlas Mountains.
Our enthusiasm for what we saw in the museum helped our city guide to "get us" and realize that we were interested in the finer, more higher-quality Moroccan handicrafts and jewelry than what is typically sold in the souks. After the making several purchases of books and small colorful leather pills designed by Saint-Laurant, we were off to a fabulous antique and artifact shop — Amazonite Antiquités Objts d'Arts — in the new town.
Next we make a brief stop at Koutoubia Mosque. Its minaret, which was completed under the reign of the Almohad Caliph Yaqub al-Mansur (1184-1199) is the highest structure in the city — not very high (221 feet tall and 41 feet wide) — but, being in a flat city it serves as a great way to get one's bearings. The minaret also served as the model for the Giralda of Seville and the Hassan Tower in Rabat, which we visited early in our Moroccan adventure. The Mosque is still an active place of worship and non-Muslim's, like us, are not permitted inside. Too bad!
From here we head to Palais Bahia — Palace of the Beautiful — which was built by two grand visers at the end of the 19th century. The palace, built for Ahmed Ibn Moussa between 1894 and 1900, is in the Eastern Architectural style known as Alawi. Craftsmen from Fes were brought in to construct the palace, which took 15 years to complete and is said to have housed his official concubines — nice! Our guide tells us that there are 160 rooms that sprawl out in an open and rambling way and surrounded by almost 20-acres of gardens — which unfortunately we did not get to visit. The importance, it is believed, of each concubine is reflected in the size of their bedroom. The zellij tile work and finishes are exquisite. By now we have seen quite a bit of Morocco so when we are told that all the marble came from Meknés, the cedar from the Middle Atlas mountains, and the tiles from Tetouan, we know these places!
From here we head to Palais Bahia — Palace of the Beautiful — which was built by two grand visers at the end of the 19th century. The palace, built for Ahmed Ibn Moussa between 1894 and 1900, is in the Eastern Architectural style known as Alawi. Craftsmen from Fes were brought in to construct the palace, which took 15 years to complete and is said to have housed his official concubines — nice! Our guide tells us that there are 160 rooms that sprawl out in an open and rambling way and surrounded by almost 20-acres of gardens — which unfortunately we did not get to visit. The importance, it is believed, of each concubine is reflected in the size of their bedroom. The zellij tile work and finishes are exquisite. By now we have seen quite a bit of Morocco so when we are told that all the marble came from Meknés, the cedar from the Middle Atlas mountains, and the tiles from Tetouan, we know these places!
One more stop before lunch . . . the Saadian Tombs, which are located next to the Kasbah Mosque and date back to the time of the sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (1578-1603). Ornate, the tombs consist of two mausoleums and a garden area that is suppose to represent Allah's paradise and is dotted with mosaic graves of servants and others of the royal retinue. Interestingly, the tombs were only "discovered" in 1917.
We wait in line in the hot sun to view the central mausoleum, which has three funerary rooms with corpses of about 60 members of the Saadi Dynasty that originated in the Draa Valley. Ours is only a brief look into the central room — the Hall of Twelve Columns — where sultan Ahmed el-Mansour (center) and his son and grandson are entombed in Italian Carrara marble. Between the sparse natural light and the colored artificial light, the room is both eerie and magical!
We wait in line in the hot sun to view the central mausoleum, which has three funerary rooms with corpses of about 60 members of the Saadi Dynasty that originated in the Draa Valley. Ours is only a brief look into the central room — the Hall of Twelve Columns — where sultan Ahmed el-Mansour (center) and his son and grandson are entombed in Italian Carrara marble. Between the sparse natural light and the colored artificial light, the room is both eerie and magical!
On our way to lunch, we explore the Mellah, the former Jewish Quarter founded in the mid-1500s and that once housed more than 15,000 people.
After lunch we head to the souk . . . to a lighting shop (Mijjadi Abdellatif), antique / artifact shop, art gallery, pharmacy / herb shop — where we purchase a number of products to bring home — and some clothing shops . . . including one that makes caftans and jackets. Gypsy bought a lovely embroidered black jacket!
Of real interest to me . . . besides Berber doors, jewelry and carpets . . . are the pharmacy / herb shops. The man teaching us about the various culinary and medicinal herbs studied for 5 years and has a broad knowledge. He escorts us into his "office" that is lined with jars that contain herbs and spices, pigments, grains and legumes, and candies. In the center of the room are rows of benches that patients and clients sit upon to wait their turn for his attention — whether it be a diagnosis or prescription.
Of real interest to me . . . besides Berber doors, jewelry and carpets . . . are the pharmacy / herb shops. The man teaching us about the various culinary and medicinal herbs studied for 5 years and has a broad knowledge. He escorts us into his "office" that is lined with jars that contain herbs and spices, pigments, grains and legumes, and candies. In the center of the room are rows of benches that patients and clients sit upon to wait their turn for his attention — whether it be a diagnosis or prescription.
Honestly, I am so glad we started our trip with Chefchouen and Fes . . . the authenticity of the medinas and souks I much prefer. There is too much commercialism and hustling here. Even our guide warns us of Chinese-made products to look Moroccan that are being sold in the souks. Most disappointing was to end our day in the open plaza where chained monkeys are perched on tourists' shoulders for dirham, and sleazy snake charmers entice hot (and probably over-worked) cobras to hiss at crowds around them. There are also lines carriages hitched to malnourished-looking horses with their drivers hustling for customers.
Tired and hot, we make our way back to La Maison Arabe for a refreshing cocktail du jour. Too tired to even eat, I head to my room for an early night!
Tired and hot, we make our way back to La Maison Arabe for a refreshing cocktail du jour. Too tired to even eat, I head to my room for an early night!