Le Jardin Secret occupies a 4,000 m² palatial riad in the Mouassine quarter, with origins in the 16th-century Saadian period and a 19th-century rebuild. After decades of ruin, an Italian-led restoration reopened the site in 2016: a 17-metre tower, a classical Islamic char-bagh garden and an exotic garden by landscape architect Tom Stuart-Smith, all fed by an 11th-century khettara.
Why visit
Le Jardin Secret is the most carefully restored riad palace in Marrakech medina and the only place where you can see a complete classical Islamic four-part garden side by side with a contemporary planting scheme by Tom Stuart-Smith. The combination of architecture, hydrology and horticulture in 4,000 m² is unique in the city.
What to expect
Two walled gardens linked by a tadelakt-finished pavilion; a small restored hammam; a panoramic 17-metre tower; and on-site interpretation panels explaining the restoration and the khettara water system. A café and bookshop sit by the entrance.
Best time
Late morning, when sunlight hits the central pool of the Islamic garden and the citrus trees throw the cleanest shadows. The site is small enough to cover in 60 to 90 minutes including the tower.
Price range
Ticketed: garden entry is 100 MAD, reduced to 80 MAD for visitors up to 24 and 50 MAD for Moroccan citizens.
The tower is a separate add-on at 40 MAD (30 MAD reduced) and is not open to children under 6.
Children under 12 enter free and groups of 15 or more pay 80 MAD per person. Tickets are sold online and at the ticket office on site.
Practical tips
Tower entry is sold separately at the gate. The medina address is on Rue Mouassine, easiest reached by walking 10 minutes north from Jemaa el-Fnaa. Combine with Mouassine Mosque and Souk Semmarine in a single morning.
March 2016, after roughly eight years of restoration led by Italian architect Luciano Zanoni and landscape designer Tom Stuart-Smith. Before that the site had been a private aristocratic palace for almost four centuries.
A classical Islamic char-bagh — divided into four quarters by water channels and planted with citrus, palms and herbs — and an exotic garden designed by Tom Stuart-Smith with succulents and grasses from South Africa, Madagascar, Mexico and the Mediterranean.
From a khettara, an underground gallery first dug in the 11th century to bring water from the High Atlas piedmont into the medina. The restoration cleaned and re-pressurised the channel, which still feeds the site's pools and irrigation.
Yes, with a separate small ticket. The 17-metre tower is one of the few panoramic viewpoints inside the medina and looks across rooftops to the Atlas Mountains on clear days.