Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech celebrates 100 years as botanical and cultural landmark

The Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech, Morocco, marks its centenary in 2024. Created by French orientalist painter Jacques Majorelle (1886–1962), the nine-thousand-square-meter garden blends Moorish and Arab heritage with Art Deco architecture. Majorelle purchased the land in progressive lots and commissioned architect Paul Sinoir to design a villa in the 1930s, painted in a cobalt blue now known as "Majorelle blue." Over forty years, he planted exotic specimens from around the world, focusing on cacti, creating a "botanical laboratory." After Majorelle's death, the garden fell into disrepair due to high maintenance costs. In 1980, fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and industrialist Pierre Bergé purchased it, moving into the residence renamed Villa Oasis. Saint Laurent called the garden "an infinite source of inspiration." Today, the site includes a museum dedicated to Saint Laurent designed by Studio KO and opened in 2017, a collection of Majorelle's works, and the Berber Museum inaugurated in 2011 in the painter's former studio. The museum houses over six hundred artifacts collected by Saint Laurent and Bergé from Moroccan Berber (Amazigh) communities across the Rif Mountains, Atlantic coast, and Sahara. The garden is a major tourist attraction requiring advance booking and timed entry, also serving as a cultural venue with a café and boutique.