Menara Gardens and medina shops

Menara gardens are located at the west of Marrakech, and a popular weekend destination for families. They were built around 1130 by the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min.

They contain a pavilion, built in the 16th century and renovated in 1869 by the Sultan, who used to stay here in summertime.

The pavilion and artificial lake are surrounded by orchards and olive groves. The intention of the lake was to irrigate the surrounding gardens using an old hydraulic system which conveys water from the mountains 30 km away.

We walked both ways, with a stop on the way back for lunch, then explored the medina for a while, before a few hours relaxing on the rooftop terrace of our riad.

We ventured out for dinner, planning to eat local, but needed to find an ATM, so ended up in the main square. The first ATM we tried was out of cash, the second malfunctioned and ate the person in front's card, the third was only in French, but we were successful with the fourth! 😮‍💨

Dinner was a vegetarian tagine again, before enduring shoulder to shoulder crowds to get back to our riad.Read more