Agdal Garden, Fes

Agdal Garden, Fes

The Agdal Gardens (or Aguedal Gardens) are gardens, of about 400 hectares (4.0 km2; 1.5 sq mi) of surface, to the south of Dar El Makhzen, the Royal Palace, and the medina in Marrakech. Their name derives from the Berber language for "walled meadow". Extending for some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), the gardens include groves of orange, lemon, fig, apricot and pomegranate trees in rectangular plots, linked by olive-lined walkways. 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 gardens were created as an orchard by Abd al-Mu'min 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. 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. His successor, Sultan Moulay Hassan, housed his harem in another pavilion in the gardens, the Dar al Baida.
Sight description based on Wikipedia.

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Agdal Garden on Map

Sight Name: Agdal Garden
Sight Location: Fes, Morocco (See walking tours in Fes)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark

Walking Tours in Fes, Morocco

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Create Your Own Walk in Fes

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Fes Old Town Walking Tour

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Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 3.7 Km or 2.3 Miles
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Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.7 Km or 1.7 Miles