Gardens & Oases
Cyber Park (Arsat Moulay Abdeslam): A Restored Royal Garden
An 18th-century royal garden reborn as a free, shaded park between medina and new town.
- Opening hours
- Daily, roughly 8:00–18:30 (check locally)
- Entry
- Free
- Time needed
- 30–45 minutes
- Best time
- Morning or late afternoon, out of the midday heat
Reply within hours · Private or shared · Pay after we confirm
Overview
The Cyber Park — properly the Arsat Moulay Abdeslam — is one of Marrakech's oldest gardens given a modern second life. Laid out in the 18th century for a prince, it fell into neglect before a careful restoration reopened it as a free public park, complete with a nod to the digital age that gave it its nickname. Today it's a quiet, shaded oasis of olives, roses and orange trees, perfectly placed for a pause between the medina and the new town.
The garden dates to the 1700s, created as a royal arsat (orchard-garden) by Prince Moulay Abdeslam, son of the sultan. Like many such gardens it combined beauty with productivity — olives, oranges and other fruit trees among the ornamental beds. After long neglect it was comprehensively restored in the mid-2000s in partnership with the national telecoms company, which added information terminals and free wifi and earned it the 'Cyber Park' tag it's now known by.
The layout blends formal Islamic garden design — long axes, geometric beds, water channels — with generous shade from mature olive and palm trees. At its centre stands a restored Andalusian-style pavilion, and paths thread between rose beds, aromatic plants and lawns. It's well kept and calm, patrolled and litter-free, which makes it a favourite with local families, students and courting couples as much as with visitors.
Its great practical virtue is location: it lies right on Avenue Mohammed V, the main artery linking the medina and the Koutoubia with Gueliz, so it's an easy and genuinely pleasant place to break a walk between the two. Entry is free, it's rarely crowded, and after the sensory overload of the souks it offers exactly the kind of green, quiet interval the city's historic gardens were always meant to provide.
Highlights
- An 18th-century royal garden, restored and reopened to the public
- Free to enter, with olive, orange and palm-shaded walks
- An elegant Andalusian-style pavilion and formal beds
- A calm green link on the walk between the medina and Gueliz
What to see
The central pavilion
A restored Andalusian-style garden pavilion anchoring the formal layout at the park's heart.
The olive walks
Shaded avenues of mature olive and palm trees offering cool relief from the sun.
The rose and herb beds
Formal beds of roses and aromatic plants laid out on the garden's geometric axes.
The water channels
Traditional irrigation runnels threading the garden in the Islamic paradise-garden tradition.
Getting there
- On Avenue Mohammed V, midway between the Koutoubia and Gueliz
- About a 10-minute walk from Jemaa el-Fnaa toward the new town
- Any taxi along Avenue Mohammed V can drop you at the gate
Insider tips
- It's completely free — a rare thing among Marrakech's gardens
- Use it as a shady rest stop on the walk between medina and Gueliz
- Come in the morning or late afternoon to avoid the midday heat
- Bring water and let children stretch their legs on the lawns
- Combine with the Koutoubia gardens, a short walk toward the medina
Frequently asked questions
Is the Cyber Park free to visit?
Yes, entry to the Cyber Park (Arsat Moulay Abdeslam) is free. It's a restored 18th-century royal garden turned public park on Avenue Mohammed V, which makes it unusual among Marrakech's gardens, most of which charge admission. It's well kept and quiet, and a pleasant free stop between the medina and Gueliz.
Why is it called the Cyber Park?
The nickname comes from its mid-2000s restoration in partnership with Morocco's national telecoms company, which installed information terminals and free wifi in the garden alongside the replanting. The historic name is the Arsat Moulay Abdeslam, after the 18th-century prince for whom the garden was originally created.
Is the Cyber Park worth visiting?
As a free, shady, central green space, yes — especially as a rest stop on the walk between the medina and the new town, or a calm break from the intensity of the souks. It won't take long and it's less of a showpiece than Majorelle, but it's genuinely pleasant, historic and costs nothing.