Palmeraie Museum, Marrakech: contemporary art and gardens, opening hours and price

Updated on October 1, 2026

The Palmeraie Museum, now the Benchaâbane Foundation, brings together Moroccan contemporary art and gardens in the Marrakech Palmeraie, on the Fez road. It was founded in 2011 by Abderrazzak Benchaâbane, a botanist, photographer and perfumer who worked with Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé on the Majorelle Garden. Paintings, calligraphy, sculptures, photographs and installations by some fifty Moroccan and international artists are shown in restored former farm buildings made of rammed earth. Around them, a two-hectare park, the "Meditation Gardens" tended since 1999, combines an Andalusian garden, a dry cactus garden, pools, a rose garden, a vegetable garden and an orchard. It is a quiet visit, away from the medina, that pairs well with a ride through the Palmeraie.

Highlights

The palm grove around the museum

The museum stands in the heart of the Palmeraie, north-east of the city, on the site of a former douar (village). The ride there gives a glimpse of the palm trees, fields and earth walls that surround the foundation.

The Andalusian garden and the dry garden

The Andalusian garden is laid out around a long pool lined with citrus trees and fragrant plants. The dry garden, sheltered by high walls, gathers cacti and succulents adapted to drought, a theme dear to the founder, a botanist by training.

The contemporary art rooms

The former rammed-earth buildings house the collection and temporary exhibitions. Highlights include works by Farid Belkahia, Hassan El Glaoui, Mohamed Melihi and Mahi Binebine, alongside younger artists.

Infos pratiques

Tips

Admission costs 50 MAD and is free for children under 9 (price given by local guides in 2026; the foundation's website does not list prices). Bring cash. The foundation hosts temporary exhibitions, concerts and children's workshops: call ahead (+212 6 61 09 53 52) to find out what is on. Allow one to one and a half hours on site, and agree with your taxi driver on waiting time or a return trip, as taxis are scarce on the Fez road.

How to get there

Address: Dar Tounsi, route de Fès, Palmeraie, Marrakech (opposite the Atacadao store) By petit taxi from the medina or Gueliz: about 15 to 20 minutes; the museum is about 5 km as the crow flies north-east of Jemaa el-Fna square By car: leave the city on the Fez road (N8) and look out for the Atacadao store