Marrakesh: where Churchill and Roosevelt played hookey

Marrakesh: where Churchill and Roosevelt played hookey
Churchill and Roosevelt enjoy a break from their deliberations to spend a few days in Marrakesh

Winston Churchill believed that “Marrakesh is simply the nicest place on Earth to spend an afternoon”, which explains why not even his demanding schedule as Britain’s wartime leader could dissuade him from experiencing the charms of Morocco’s inspirational city.

His most memorable afternoon there was during a crucial phase of the Second World War, when he took time out from a vital summit with the American president, Franklin D Roosevelt, to visit his cherished retreat in the old imperial city.

Churchill began his love affair with Marrakesh during the “wilderness years” of the Thirties when, frustrated by the Baldwin government’s refusal to give him a cabinet position, he spent the winter of 1935-36 on a painting holiday in Morocco. He was particularly attracted to a city he called the “Paris of the Sahara” because of the striking contrast between the city’s arid desert location and the backdrop of the imposing Atlas Mountains that surrounded Marrakesh, which inspired him to paint some of his finest watercolours.

Thus when, in 1943, Churchill arrived in Casablanca for a summit with Roosevelt and the Allied chiefs of staff to plot the future course of the military campaign to defeat Nazi Germany, the British prime minister insisted that the two leaders take a break from their deliberations to spend a few days in Marrakesh.

“You cannot come all the way to North Africa without seeing Marrakesh,” Churchill told a sceptical Roosevelt, who wanted to return immediately to the United States to concentrate on running the war effort. “Let us spend two days there,” Churchill persisted. “I must be with you when you see the sun set on the Atlas Mountains.”

And so, on January 23 1943, the two wartime leaders left Casablanca for the five-hour drive to Marrakesh, stopping on the way for a picnic lunch. On arrival, the party made their way to the Villa Taylor, a spacious property owned by a wealthy New York family situated in the Ville Nouvelle district on the outskirts of the old city walls, which was the main residential area for wealthy French colonialists (today it is in the city’s Gueliz district).

The villa, which is located a five-minute walk from the Jardin Majorelle, the popular tourist attraction created by the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, has its own tower, from where Churchill liked to paint the spectacular sunsets for which the city is renowned.

On arrival at the villa, Churchill insisted that Roosevelt accompany him to the top of the tower to see the panoramic view of Marrakesh, and to witness for himself that magical moment during a Moroccan sunset when the final, dying rays of the sun catch the snow-capped peaks of the Atlas Mountains as the muezzin sounds the evening call to prayer.

At Churchill’s insistence, two of his staff made a chair of their arms to carry the wheelchair-bound Roosevelt up the winding stairs to the roof of the tower to watch the spectacle. As Celia Sandys, Churchill’s granddaughter, has recounted in her book Travels with Winston Churchill, Roosevelt was clearly taken by the moment. Reclining on a divan, Roosevelt remarked to Churchill: “I feel like a sultan: you may kiss my hand, my dear.” In his diary, Churchill’s doctor recorded: “We stood gazing at the purple hills, where the light was changing every minute.” Churchill himself murmured: “It’s the most lovely spot in the world.”

Refreshed, Roosevelt left Marrakesh the following morning, while Churchill opted to stay one day longer to do some painting. During the afternoon he painted a view of the Atlas Mountains, which was the only picture he painted during the war.

Marrakesh may have developed dramatically over the years, becoming one of North Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, but it is still possible to experience the magic that so inspired Churchill, as I discovered when I went in search of the Villa Taylor in the city’s busy suburbs.

Although Churchill frequently took winter breaks in Marrakesh for the rest of his life, after the war he always stayed at La Mamounia, the city’s pre-eminent hotel. This was partly due to the fact that, after the war, the owners of the Villa Taylor dispensed with the property. Staunch Republicans, it is said that the Taylors were outraged that Churchill had invited a Democrat president to sleep in their bed.

The property then passed to the Comte de Breteuil, a French businessman who owned newspapers in Casablanca and whose wife was a close friend of Yves Saint Laurent, and supported him in his efforts to transform the neighbouring Jardin Majorelle into one of the city’s major tourist attractions.

But despite the Villa Taylor’s close association with Britain’s greatest wartime leader, the property gradually fell into disuse, and was eventually bought by the late King of Morocco, who intended to turn it into a residence for the Crown Prince but abandoned the idea when he found it was overlooked by newer buildings.

Consequently, one of the most iconic buildings in Marrakesh today stands abandoned and deserted, save for a couple of desultory gendarmes guarding the building, who responded to my request to be allowed to look around the grounds with an uncompromising “Non”.

But having read so much about Churchill’s affection for the property, and in particular the spectacular views afforded by the tower, I felt I could not leave without seeing for myself why Churchill was so inspired by this particular location. So, while the sentries resumed their game of cards, I made my way to the back of the complex, where, by standing on the wall of a nearby cemetery, I was able to make out the contours of the tower through the trees that marked the edge of the villa’s garden.

And as the sun began to set, I was able, for a brief moment, to share the experience that Churchill himself treasured so much, when the rosy hue of the sun’s dying rays makes a perfect match with the city’s pink, clay walls. Now I fully comprehended why Churchill was so captivated by Marrakesh.

“Here in these spacious palm groves rising from the desert,” he wrote, “the traveller can be sure of perennial sunshine, of every comfort and diversion, and can contemplate with ceaseless satisfaction the stately and snow-clad panoramas of the Atlas Mountains.”

I am sure I am not the only visitor to Marrakesh who has been disappointed to find the Villa Taylor closed to visitors, and the building abandoned and in a state of neglect. If only the Moroccan authorities could understand the villa’s great potential for anyone interested in the city’s rich history, as well as in Churchill himself, it could easily be transformed into an attraction on a par with its more acclaimed neighbour, the Jardin Majorelle.

This is certainly the view of Abderrazak ben Chaabane, one of Morocco’s leading botanists, who helped Yves Saint Laurent design the Majorelle. “I have always felt that a part of Churchill’s soul will forever remain in Marrakesh,” he explained. “This is where Churchill came to relax and rest and rebuilt his strength for all the challenges he faced. It is such a shame that a place that was so special to Winston Churchill remains closed to the outside world.”

  • Con Coughlin’s new book, Churchill’s First War, is published by Macmillan in April.

Telegraph Tours Churchill’s Morocco

Marrakesh city break guide

Read Alison Bing's insider's guide to Marrakesh, Morocco, including expert advice on the best hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and attractions.

Marrakesh's best hotels
36 Hours In... Marrakesh

Alison Bing has written 36 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, including seven Morocco titles and Lonely Planet's first guide to Marrakesh. She has done travel writing for The Daily Telegraph, BBC, The New Zealand Herald, Sweden's Dagens Nyheter and Lonely Planet magazine.