Marrakech, the red city, has established an international reputation of being one of the best touristic destinations in the globe. Thus, several celebrities and powerful people, have either vacationed or established residence amidst its ocre walls.
Nevertheless, none of them has impacted the city as much as Jaque Majorelle did. An architect by trade and a painter by passion, Jaque discovered Marrakech during one of his trips to Morocco and chose it as a returning point for his African expeditions. A home away from home.
After several years in the French military, Jaque and his wife moved to Marrakech where he started painting street scenes while developing a taste for exotic plants.
Around 1923, Jaque Majorelle, bought four acres of land and started the journey which will conclude with the finished product tourists and locals alike rave about today.
The gardens are conceived to look like a moorish oasis. The exotic plants and the ocre architectural components are contrived to blend with each other without cloaking the cues.
The gardens are deemed to be an apparallel space portraying a harmonious vision of colors, space, and flora. The prevailing color is a unique blue, "Bleu Majorelle", giving the space a distinctive coup d'oeil.
In 1980, years after Jaque Majorelle's death, a young Yves Saint Lauren and Pierre Berge discovered the gardens during a visit to the oasis city. They decide to buy it and restore it to its former glory.
The gardens are beleived to be a source of inspiration for several runway collections.
After his death in 2008, the street leading to the gardens has been named after him and one of our favorite museums (the Amazigh Museum) has been inaugurated in 2010 in order to bring the tribal traditions closer to the visiting tourists.
The Amazigh Museum epitomizes a full-bodied introduction to the Amazigh culture. The expositions along with the building itself project an authentic image of a very complex culture.
Thusly, the building hosting the museum has been divided to three sections:
- Domestic Life and Traditional Skills
- Ornaments and Jewels
- Costumes and Finery
Since most people visiting Marrakech don't get the chance or the time to drift away toward the high mountains and remote villages; the museum offers an unique exordum of the Amazigh culture.