The Anima Garden of Marrakesh

Nature + Art = A place of inspiration, healing, meditation. . . and surprise

Mar 30, 2024

If you ever find yourself in Marrakesh, Morocco, and start to feel overwhelmed by the heat, dust, automobiles, and what feels like a million tourists in a city of one million inhabitants, there is a wonderful antidote.

Just hop on a free shuttle bus near the Koutoubia Mosque and enjoy the view while leaving the city and heading toward the High Atlas Mountains. In about 30 minutes, you will arrive at the Anima Garden, a lush, green, tree-filled oasis of nature and art that will quiet your nerves, delight your senses, and soothe your soul. If you are like me, some of the art may even make you laugh out loud or shake your head in amazement.

For example, I love the glass house pictured below. I came around a bend in the garden and there it was, sitting quietly and without fanfare among the trees. In fact I almost missed it when I first walked past.

With just a little imagination, I think all kinds of stories could be written about the house and its magical, mysterious inhabitants.

Anima Garden is the brainchild of an Austrian singer-songwriter / sculptor / author / showman named André Heller. Born in Vienna in 1947, Heller fell in love with Morocco many years ago and now divides his time between Vienna and Marrakesh.

My Austrian husband, Gerhard, has known about him since Heller’s music-making days in Vienna in the ‘70s. He had also heard that Anima Garden was beautiful. So a major goal during our stay in Morocco in March-April of 2023 was to visit the garden.

Considering how lush and vibrant the garden is today, it is almost unbelievable that only 14 years ago—in 2010—the land consisted of nothing but barren, red desert soil on which little grew.

Heller and a crew of gardeners spent six years transforming the property, which opened in 2016. By the time Gerhard and I visited in 2023, the garden was filled with huge palm trees, olive trees and graceful stalks of bamboo. It also contained hundreds of species of plants, including grasses, cacti and flowers from all over the world.

The transformation in just a few years is truly awe-inspiring!

The Swiss psychoanalyst Carl Jung used the term anima to refer to a person’s soul, the inner force that animates all human beings. In naming his garden Anima, Heller clearly hopes that the life force of visitors will connect deeply with the life force of the garden.

The many great gardens of the world, of literature and poetry, of painting and music, of religion and architecture, all make the point as clear as possible: The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden.
― Sir Thomas More

I am a bit obsessed with the idea of walking through some kind of doorway into another world. There is something magical and mysterious about it, with a tantalizing possibility of change and transformation.

This is one reason I love the wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the rabbit hole in Alice in Wonderland, and Platform 9 3/4 in the Harry Potter stories. It is also why I named my Substack newsletter “Travel Doorways.” And it is why I absolutely love the entrance to the Anima Garden.

Upon entering, the first thing Gerhard and I encountered were wood carvings of a beautiful African family welcoming us to the garden.

From there, paths beckoned in different directions. There were no signs that said “this way.” It was up to each person to follow their own muse. So Gerhard and I naturally separated and began our own personal exploration of the garden.

Every path in the three-hectare (7.4 acre) garden takes you past beautiful trees, colorful flowers and whimsical pieces of art. Much of the art was created by local artists. A few pieces were created by internationally famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Auguste Rodin, Keith Haring or Heller himself.

However, there are no labels on any of the pieces identifying who created them. In the garden, the art is simply what it is, and each piece is beautiful in its own unique way.

This being said, I think the following statue is my favorite piece in the entire garden! It feels like there is so much donkey-man could tell me if I would just stay quiet and listen.

I love shaded walkways in gardens—especially in the summer. They draw me in and make me want to linger in the welcoming coolness of their shadows.

It is a lot of plants we need for cooking, for medicine, all I do is I give them sun, I give them water in an ecological system that we have, I give them love, I talk to them, I tell them you are my friends, if you have a problem tell me and I will take care of your problem.—André Heller*

Even in early April, beautiful flowers are growing in the garden. Later in the year, roses, bougainvillea and many other flowers will be in full bloom.

There is also a spectacular cactus garden, filled with cacti in every shape and size you can imagine.

And of course there are water features, including fountains and a large pond edged by thick green grasses and shrubs.

The trees are now filled with the songs of hundreds of birds, and there is even a live turtle, almost camouflaged by a wooden walkway.

If you get tired or would just like to sit and meditate for a while, the garden provides numerous inviting opportunities for doing so.

Another facet of the garden that I find interesting is how trees and shrubs have been used to frame special features, almost like a natural tableau.

If you enjoy walking in labyrinths, you have two choices: one round and one angular.

After all the walking, exploring and meditating, you might find that you are hungry. If so, you are in luck. The Café Paul Bowles serves delicious Moroccan food with international influences. The food in the café, which mainly comes from local farms and changes according to the season, incorporates such delicacies as saffron, mint, lemon and olives.

You can also glimpse views of the gorgeous High Atlas Mountains from different places in the park—including the rooftop of the café.

There is a separate—and equally beautiful—exit to the garden that transports visitors (regretfully in my case) back to the “real” world. But I am not the same as when I entered the garden. Now I have my memories, photographs, and inspiration for future stories—thanks to a glass house and a donkey-man in a tuxedo!

I make many gardens in the world, since 30, 40 years, because I think it is the only thing that becomes more and more and more beautiful every day, and in the times we are living, it is everything that we need. It is beauty, it is spirituality, it is shadow, it is coolness, it is inspiration. —André Heller*

More Information

Anima Garden website: https://www.anima-garden.com/

In general, the garden is open all year from 9:00 – 18:00. However, hours may differ during Ramadan, and the facility is closed during the Aid El Kebir holidays—so be sure to check the website for precise information. The entrance fee for adults is 14 euros per person, and it is best to book your ticket online before you go.

A free shuttle service runs between the carpark at the Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakech and the garden. It is also a good idea to reserve a seat on the bus in advance because seats fill up quickly.

Currently, two shuttles take place daily:

Departing Marrakech: 9:30 am • 2:30 pm (14:30)

Departing Anima: 1 pm (13:00) • 5:30 pm (17:30)