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The Majorelle garden, located in Gueliz, the modern district of Marrakech, is named after its owner.

Jacques Majorelle is a French painter who was born in Nancy, in France, in 1886. He settled down in Marrakech in 1919 to continue his career plans there. He built a residence that he surrounded with a garden that has rare essences from all over the world: bougainvilleas, cactus, coconuts, banana trees, bamboos, jasmines, yuccas, water lilies, and palm trees. Jacques Majorelle was one of the most important amateur botanists of his era.

The residence was inspired from the palaces of Marrakech, joining architectural simplicity to water jets, and the combination made of it a fabulous artistic piece.
The artist’s studio was designed in 1931 by the architect Paul Sinoir. Jacques Majorelle painted it in a variety of blue that Marrakchi people called: The Majorelle’s blue, a color that gives to the place a strong fresh appearance.
The garden was opened to the public for the first time in 1947.

Jacques Majorelle died in 1962 in Paris, as he went back there after a car accident. In the 80s, Yves Saint-Laurant and Pierre Bergé purchased the villa and its botanical masterpiece. The garden was completely abandoned after the death of Jacques Majorelle, so the new owners had to launch some restorations to make it in a better state. In January 2001, Yves Saint-Laurant and Pierre Bergé created the association for the safeguard and the radiance of the Majorelle garden.

Currently, the Majorelle garden is one of the must-see tourist attractions of Marrakech. The studio was transformed into a museum exposing a fabulous collection of Islamic art objects that Yves Saint-Laurant and Pierre Bergé own. Those objects come from the Maghreb, the East, Africa, and Asia. Visitors can admire in the museum things such as: Berber ceramics, potteries of great value, nice rugs, weapons, marvelous jewels, woodworks and other treasures, besides some paintings done by Jacques Majorelle.