Agdal Gardens

The Agdal Gardens (or Aguedal Gardens) cover about convert|400|ha|km2 sqmi to the south of "Dar El Makhzen", the Royal Palace, and the medina in Marrakesh, Morocco. Their name derives from the Berber language for "walled meadow".

The gardens were created as an orchard by Abd el Moumen of the Almohad dynasty in the 12th century. They were renovated by the Saadi dynasty and then enlarged during the reign of Moulay Abderrahmane in the 19th century, when they were enclosed with pisé walls. Extending for some convert|3|km|mi, the gardens include groves of orange, lemon, fig, apricot and pomegranate trees in rectangular plots, linked by olive-lined walkways.

The gardens are irrigated using a number of pools and ditches. A network of underground channels and ditches, known as "khettera", bring water down from the High Atlas mountains many kilometres away, via Aghmat in the Ourika Valley to the south.

The "Dar El Hana", a small pavilion or "minzah", stands beside the largest pool, the "Sahraj el-Hana" (Tank of Health), which was used to train troops to swim. Sultan Mohammed IV died in the pool when his steam launch capsized there in 1873. ["The Rough Guide to Morocco", p.370.] His successor, Sultan Moulay Hassan, housed his harem in another pavilion in the gardens, the "Dar al Baida".

Together with the medina of Marrakech and the Menara Gardens, the Agdal Gardens were listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1985.

The garden is closed when the King of Morocco is in residence at the palace, but otherwise opens to the public on Fridays and Sundays.

ee also

*Menara Garden
*Majorelle Garden
*Palmeraie

Notes

References

* [http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/aguedal_gardens Gardenvisit.com]
* [http://www.footprintguides.com/Marrakech/Gueliz,-Hivernage-and-the-gardens.php Footprint travel guides] (text from [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dNWYJivU5vgC&pg=PA102&lpg=PA102&dq=agdal+gardens&source=web&ots=r-oks762HO&sig=XTAvtJnlK2ak6B_E7BgOxCcsWw0&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result "Footprint Marrakech & the High Atlas Handbook: The Travel Guide"] , p.102, Published by Footprint Travel Guides, 2001, ISBN 1903471125)
* [http://www.travelingo.org/africa/morocco/marrakesh/gardens/jardin-agdal/ Travelingo.org] (text from [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1mhFb_pA_w8C&pg=PA370&dq=agdal+rough+guide&lr=&sig=ACfU3U0wFx4xtUE_Pu4q_fmxx7P_gTHJrg "The Rough Guide to Morocco"] , p.370, Published by Rough Guides, 2001, ISBN 1858286018)
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/331/multiple=1&unique_number=376 UNESCO listing]