Sunday Escape – Yves Saint Laurent's Moroccan oasi

Today we bring you in Moroccan villa in which Yves Saint Laurent has lived together with his partner Pierre Bergé.

Built in the 20s by French painter Jacques Majorelle, the highlight of this villa is actually the garden, a lush tropical oasis where the famous "blue Majorelle" was created – an intense cobalt blue that covers the front of the villa itself.

Fascinated by the elegance of the lines and the triumph of typical colours typical of Islamic architecture, as well as by botany, the painter moved to Marrakech in 1919 and turned the garden of this villa into his sanctuary, a place to get away from the outside world and devote himself exclusively to his works, to spend the day painting immersed in the peace among the many different species of plants.

Blue Majorelle, though, was not his idea. We have to thank architect Paul Sinoir, who thought of this brilliant and very intense shade for the villa's facade and the wall of the garden, in order to create a unique contrast.

The garden opened to the public in 1947, but unfortunately, less than twenty years later it was abandoned and left to itself. The one who reevaluated this place, this modern Eden where thousands of colours and perfumes collide, filled with flowers and plants from all around the world, small rivers, lotus flowers and shady walkways, was the renowned designer himself, when during the 80s he bought the entire complex together with Bergé.

Described by Saint Laurent as "an oasis where colours used by Matisse were mixed with those of nature", the Majorelle Garden soon became one of the most important places in the designer's life and was a constant source of inspiration for his creations, so much he lived here until 2008, the year of his death, and his ashes were scattered in the botanical garden.

Follow us through our virtual tour in the villa and the garden.