Majorelle Gardens (Jardin Majorelle), Yves Saint Laurent Villa, Marrakech

Jardin Majorelle/Majorelle Gardens, at the Yves Saint Laurent Villas in Marrakech, with Marrakech Tour Guide Aqrchalou Brahim.

The Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech, Morocco, is a two-acre botanical garden and artist's landscape. Beginning in 1923, the French Orientalist artist Jacques Majorelle worked on it for over forty years. It also includes a Cubist home built in the 1930s by French architect Paul Sinoir. From 1923 until their divorce in the 1950s, the artist and his wife lived on the property. The building was bought by Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Bergé, two fashion designers, in the 1980s, who then set about restoring it. The garden and villa complex is now accessible to the general public. The Yves Saint Laurent Museum debuted nearby in 2017 and is housed in the estate.

You can book a visit to the gardens by visiting the official website here: https://www.jardinmajorelle.com/en/

We are in Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech. This garden was created by Jacques Majorelle, a French artist who came to Morocco in 1917. And he came to Marrakech in 1919, and he started creating this garden in 1927 after his marriage to a lady called Andree Longueville. He started first with the villa, then with the surrounding garden. The villa was commissioned by a French architect whose name was Paul Sinoir. So Majorelle took this garden as his residence in Marrakech. He felt in love with the vibrant city of Marrakech, with its colors. So he created this botanic garden, and it was his residence 'til 1947 when Jacques Majorelle want to maintain his garden. So he opened this garden to the public, so to defray the costs of maintain the maintenance. And in 1950, Jacques Majorelle divorced with his wife and actually he sold this garden to other people. And this garden fell in despair after that, 'til 1980 when Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge discovered this beautiful garden and restored it and took it as their residence. They also enlarged it, they built a villa on the other side of the garden. And also they created two museums here. One is Yves Saint-Laurent's museum, which hosts his creation and collection of his style work. And also the villa of Majorelle houses the Berber museum with different Berber items. So this garden has a lot of different plants, trees, exotic trees from different countries around the world. The main plants or trees here are cactus, different types of cactus. Of course, the cactus grows in arid places. So here we have the cactus, Berber cactus, and also other cactus from like Arizona, like in African countries. So also we have different types of palm trees. The bamboo from Asia. This garden is also a place of refuge for many kind of types of birds which are endemic to North Africa. So they come here as a refuge for them. Yves Saint-Laurent, after his death in 2008, his ashes were scattered around the garden and they have built for him memorial on the side of this garden. In 2017, his companion Pierre Berge also passed away. So he also, they have a memorial for both of them here around the garden. After the death of Yves Saint-Laurent, the garden was run by Pierre Berge, and he created a foundation called the Foundation Yves Saint-Laurent Pierre Berge. This foundation runs this garden. It's a French nonprofit organization. It runs this garden 'til the present day. So this garden hosts around 70,000 guests every year. As you we see now, it's so busy, it's crowded. A lot of people come to visit. It's one of the attractions of Marrakech for people who like nature and also serene places. It's a good place for those who want to get away of the bustling of the Medina, Medina which is the old city of Marrakech. So people come here to enjoy a serene life in the shade after a long day in the heat of Marrakech. - We are in Majorelle Gardens in Marrakech. This garden was created by Jacques Majorelle, a French artist who came to Morocco in 1917. And he came to Marrakech in 1919, and he started creating this garden in 1927 after his marriage to a lady called Andree Longueville. He started first with the villa, then with the surrounding garden. The villa was commissioned by a French architect whose name was Paul Sinoir. So Majorelle took this garden as his residence in Marrakech. He felt in love with the vibrant city of Marrakech, with its colors. So he created this botanic garden, and it was his residence 'til 1947 when Jacques Majorelle want to maintain his garden. So he opened this garden to the public, so to defray the costs of maintain the maintenance. And in 1950, Jacques Majorelle divorced with his wife and actually he sold this garden to other people. And this garden fell in despair after that, 'til 1980 when Yves Saint-Laurent and Pierre Berge discovered this beautiful garden and restored it and took it as their residence. They also enlarged it, they built a villa on the other side of the garden. And also they created two museums here. One is Yves Saint-Laurent's museum, which hosts his creation and c