Dar al-Hana basin
A vast reservoir, probably Almohad.
Belbaraka — CC BY-SA 3.0 · LBM1948 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · user:Anaslaassibi (retouched by user:Robert Prazeres — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jerzy Strzelecki — CC BY-SA 3.0 · mwanasimba from La Réunion — CC BY-SA 2.0
The Agdal Gardens are a walled royal estate of orchards south of the Kasbah and the Royal Palace of Marrakech. A recent archaeological survey puts the area inside its 9 km of earthen walls at 340 hectares, mostly olive, orange and pomegranate groves. With the medina and the Menara Gardens, they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. The Almohads created the estate in the twelfth century; many accounts credit Abd al-Mu'min around 1157, recent research his son Abu Ya'qub Yusuf (r. 1163–1184). Underground khettaras and canals brought water from the High Atlas, notably the Ourika basin, into great reservoirs. The Saadians restored it in the sixteenth century as Rawd al-Masarra, the Garden of Happiness. Sultan Abd al-Rahman (r. 1822–1859) began a replanting that his successor finished; the Amazigh name Agdal took hold in the nineteenth century. Only part is usually open, centred on the Dar al-Hana basin, a rammed-earth reservoir of about 200 by 180 metres thought to be Almohad, with a much-rebuilt pavilion on its south side. On clear days the High Atlas rises beyond the water, and olives stand in long rows among orange and pomegranate groves; a 1916 count found about 50,000 trees. The gardens lie about 2 km south-east of El Badi Palace and the Saadian Tombs as the crow flies; come by petit taxi and arrange the ride back, as taxis are scarce there. The regional tourism council lists Fridays and Sundays, 07:30 to 17:00, while recent guides give 09:00 to 18:00; check before you go, as access can change.
A vast reservoir, probably Almohad.
Long rows fed by old channels.
Peaks beyond the water on clear days.
South of the Royal Palace and the Kasbah, Marrakech
It is an Amazigh (Berber) word for a walled meadow or seasonal pasture, and the same name is used for similar walled parks and gardens in Fez, Meknes and Rabat.
Accounts say Sultan Mohammed IV drowned there in September 1873 when his boat, said to be a steam launch, capsized. Right beside the pavilion, to its east, stands a boathouse that was once connected to the reservoir.