The Agdal Gardens are gardens, of about 400 ha (4 km²; 1.5 sq mi) of surface, to the south of Dar El Makhzen, the Royal Palace

Royal Palace

** Palace of Nakhchivan Khans, Nakhchivan* Belgium: Royal Palace of Brussels* Brazil** Paço Imperial** Paço de São Cristóvão** Summer Palace* Bulgaria: Royal Palace, today housing the National Art Gallery* Cambodia: Royal Palace of Cambodia* China...

, and the medina in Marrakech

Marrakech

Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...

, Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. Their name derives from the Berber language for "walled meadow". Extending for some 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), the gardens include groves of orange

Orange (fruit)

An orange—specifically, the sweet orange—is the citrus Citrus × sinensis and its fruit. It is the most commonly grown tree fruit in the world....

, lemon

Lemon

The lemon is both a small evergreen tree native to Asia, and the tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and non-culinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...

, fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

, apricot

Apricot

The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...

 and pomegranate

Pomegranate

The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...

 trees in rectangular plots, linked by olive

Olive

The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...

-lined walkways.

Together with the medina of Marrakech and the Menara Gardens

Menara gardens

The Menara gardens are gardens located to the west of Marrakech, Morocco, at the gates of the Atlas mountains. They were built in the 12th century by the Almohad ruler Abd al-Mu'min....

, the Agdal Gardens were listed by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 as a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 in 1985.

History

The gardens were created as an orchard

Orchard

An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit or nut-producing trees which are grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive...

 by Abd al-Mu'min

Abd al-Mu'min

Abd al-Mu'min also known as Abdelmoumen El Goumi was a Zenata Berber prominent member of the Almohad movement. He became the first Caliph of the Almohad Empire .- Early life :...

 of the Almohad dynasty in the 12th century.

They were renovated by the Saadi dynasty

Saadi Dynasty

The Saadi dynasty of Morocco , began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 1554, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla....

 and then enlarged during the reign of Moulay Abderrahmane

Abderrahmane of Morocco

Moulay Sharif Abderrahmane was sultan of Morocco from 1822 to 1859. He was a member of the Alaouite dynasty.-Biography:He was born in 1778. His reign began at the start of the French occupation of Algeria...

 in the 19th century, when they were enclosed with pisé walls.

Irrigation System

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

Aghmat

Aghmāt was an important medieval Berber town in southern Morocco which is today an archaeological site known as "Joumâa Aghmat". It is situated approximately 30 km east of Marrakech on the Ourika road...

 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

Mohammed IV of Morocco

Mohammed IV was Sultan of Morocco from 1859 to 1873, and was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. The Spanish-Moroccan War occurred during his reign, and the Moroccan city of Tétouan fell to Spanish forces in 1861.-References:* *...

 died in the pool when his steam launch capsized there in 1873. His successor, Sultan Moulay Hassan

Hassan I of Morocco

Hassan I of Morocco was Sultan of Morocco from 1873 to 1894.-Biography:He was a member of the Alaouite dynasty. Mulay Hassan was among the most successful sultans...

, housed his harem

Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

in another pavilion in the gardens, the Dar al Baida.