Avril 2016
TheKittab al-Istibsar, at 12th women under a pergola, describes “Marrakech is the city of the Maghreb where one finds the most gardens and orchards, where we find the most grapes, fruits and fruit trees of all kinds… It is the olive tree which mainly dominates”.
It is generally thought that the builders of khettaras came from the Saharan oases and that stones thrown here and there more or less spontaneously produced the palm grove of Marrakech., where the quality of the soil and the proximity of the aquifer allows them to develop. This is why the palm grove of Marrakech is a bit of a living legend, miraculous.
The palm grove is today weakened: water scarcity, lack of maintenance, l’urbanisation massive, deal fatal blows to one of the jewels of Marrakech.
Photographs from the early 20th century show how the palm grove was a symbol of Marrakchi life.