03Cities and regions

South of the Atlas

Aït Benhaddou and Ouarzazate

Aït Benhaddou is a ksar, a fortified village, on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakesh in the Ounila Valley. The site has been fortified since the 11th century, but none of the present buildings is older than the 17th; all are made of rammed earth, adobe, clay brick and wood, with the same methods used for centuries. It has been on the World Heritage List since 1987 as an example of Moroccan earthen architecture. You climb its lanes between houses and towers to the top of the hill, where the remains of a fortified granary look over the valley and the modern village across the river, linked to the ksar by a footbridge since 2011. To the east lies Ouarzazate at 1,151 metres, the starting point for trips into the Draa Valley and the desert. It has the Taourirt kasbah, expanded by the Glaoui family in the 19th century, and Atlas Studios, where many films have been shot since 1983. Arrive early and climb to the top to see the whole ksar below you.

Since 1987

World Heritage Site

0 m

Elevation of Ouarzazate

1983

Atlas Studios founded