Morocco. Ouarzazate. Where the Atlas begins. Open left menu Ouarzazate By car from Marrakech
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Video Morocco Ouarzazate day 8-9 travel in Africa
We went to Ouarzazate from Marrakech by bus, the fare was $9. In those moments when we woke up, in some places the road looked very picturesque. It’s not for nothing that Morocco is considered a popular filming location among directors, including Steven Spielberg. We arrived in Ouarzazate in the evening and what we first noticed was that the city was very clean and well-groomed. It usually happens in Africa that the deeper you go into the country, the less well-kept the cities are.
Our plan was to explore the city before dark, and also to visit the Kasbah of Taourirt, which is located within the city. The next day, get up early in the morning and go to the most interesting ksar Ait Ben Haddou and, if there is time, explore the film studio. But at 11 o’clock we should have already been at the bus stop to go to Agadir.
Kasbah Taourirt
In the evening we went to explore the city. Ouarzazate is not a big city with a population of about 60 thousand people and, as I said earlier, it is clean and well-kept. By the way, Ouarzazate has very beautiful sunsets. When we sewed Taurit to the Kasbah, it turned out to be closed, so we only examined it from the outside. Kasbah Taourirt was built in the 18th century by representatives of the Glaoui family, who were known for their power. This is the only building within the city that has been preserved since ancient times.
Kasbah Taourirt
Ksar Ait Benhaddou
Early in the morning we went to the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, which is located 29 kilometers from the city. We ordered a car in advance at the reception of the hotel where we lived. The cost of a round trip transfer is about 30 dollars. Along the way we stopped briefly near interesting places to take photos.
After some time, we arrived at the observation deck at the ksar of Ait Ben Haddou. Ksar Ait Benhaddou is a fortified city protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Ksar is one of the most typical examples of traditional Moroccan adobe architecture, common in the pre-Saharan region.
In addition, Ait Ben Haddou, for his cinematography, is loved by many directors around the world. A huge number of films were filmed here, to name just a few: Jesus of Nazareth, The Mummy, Gladiator, Alexander.
Ksar is located on the left bank of the Ouarzazate River. In ancient times, a caravan route ran along it from Marrakesh through Zagora to Timbuktu. Presumably the ksar was built in the 11th century. But several families still live in the houses and sell souvenirs.
Walking among these ancient walls, associations arise with events that could have taken place here in ancient times. Ait Benhaddou is a truly interesting place.
ksar Ait Benhaddou
ksar Ait Benhaddou
ksar Ait Benhaddou
Film studio Atlas
After visiting Ait Benhaddou, we didn’t have much time left and we decided to visit the Atlas film studio site where many films were filmed. There is also a hotel with a swimming pool, and a list of films is posted next to the ticket office. The list is very large, several dozen. Ticket price is approximately 7 dollars.
Film studio Atlas
Film studio Atlas
Film studio Atlas
Well, what can I say about this place, if you are nearby, you can stop by at the same time, but, in my opinion, it’s not worth going here specifically. If Ait Benhaddou is truly a significant, interesting, historical landmark. Then this pavilion is a place with dilapidated plastic cars, airplanes and the like. By the way, oddly enough, we met a whole Russian tourist group here. We traveled to so many Moroccan cities and never saw them, but here we met them in the center of the country. But we had to hurry, since we had to leave for Agadir in a couple of hours, so we didn’t have a chance to talk.
Video tour to Ouarzazate
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Finally, in the evening we reach the town of Ouarzazate.
Near Ouarzazate, work was carried out on such films as “Asterix and the Obelisk: The Mission of Cleopatra”, “Banzai”, “Gladiator”, “The Last Temptation of Christ”, “Alexander the Great” and many others.
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But first, a few more cards taken at the entrance to Ouarzazate.
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You can often see houses like this right on the rocks. There isn’t even a road there, or it’s simply not visible from here..
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The road to Ouarzazate itself is unusual, considered the most picturesque of Moroccan roads. Berber tribes have long lived in this region, and trade routes passed from the north of Morocco to its south.
The inhabitants of the villages tried their best to protect them and built fortifications around them - ksars, or fortresses - kasbahs. It’s not for nothing that this road is now called the Road of a Thousand Fortresses.
The kasbahs were built from clay with a small addition of sand, straw, etc. This material is quite fragile, so the appearance of the fortresses along the road is very different from each other. Here you can find both perfectly preserved fortresses, more like elegant palaces, and their ruins, in which it is not always possible to guess the former purpose of the building.
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And the Atlas Mountains are already very close. The classic combination of palm trees and snowy peaks comes from here!
Ouarzazate or Ouarzazate, which means "silent" in Berber, is a small city in the south of Morocco. Its population is just over forty thousand people.
The Paris-Dakkar International Raceway is also located in close proximity to the city.
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As I already said, we arrived after sunset and only had time to wander a little through the streets of the ancient city. The evening is quite cool. Children burn a fire to keep warm.
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In one of the alleys, a little varzazatka (-zazachka) started a game of cat and mouse with me.
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Then her mother appeared and that was the end of the game.
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It’s somehow calm there, without any fuss, where are the traffic jams? There is not..
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It's nice to sit on the stairs and smoke...
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Same shot, but I liked the little detail. It is not the grandmother herself who waves her hand to her grandson, but her shadow on the wall. Yes?
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Keys of steps and souvenir vendor.
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Quite high, serious walls surround the city center.
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But perhaps the most famous place in the vicinity of Ouarzazate is the Kasbah of Ait Benhaddou, which is worthy of a separate post.
We specially woke up early to capture it against the backdrop of the sunrise mountains.
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The Dar el Glaoui Palace is made in the traditional Arab-Andalusian style - behind the high walls are hidden picturesque gardens and alleys paved with marble slabs. In addition to Moroccan motifs, European influences are discernible in the architecture of the palace.
Compared to other attractions of Morocco, the Dar el Glaoui Palace seems very young - it was built at the beginning of the 20th century. The construction was carried out by the famous pasha and the last oligarch of Marrakech - Thami el-Glaoui. This man was a favorite of the French secular public; some called him a wise ruler, others called him a bloody tyrant.
Currently, the palace is conventionally divided into two parts - the first houses the city library, and the second part is used to receive and accommodate high-ranking guests.
Draa Valley
The Draa Valley (“Valley of a Thousand Kasab”) is a small region in the southeast of Morocco, near the border with Algeria. Here, in a narrow valley between the mountains along the banks of a small river, people lived for many centuries in settlements called kasabs.
The most famous Kasaba of the country is considered to be Ait Benhaddou, on the site of which many famous Hollywood films were shot (“Lawrence of Arabia”, “The Man Who Would Be King”, “The Pearl of the Nile”, “Gladiator”, “The Mummy” and others). There are too many tourists in kasabas, so the locals sometimes tend to become aggressive if you don’t give them money.
You can travel around the valley by renting a car or joining a group on a jeep safari. The roads are good, but sometimes steep and extreme.
The most popular attractions in Ouarzazate with descriptions and photographs for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous places in Ouarzazate on our website.
Kasbah Taourirt was built by representatives of the Glaoui clan, who were known for their power. This is the only structure in Ouarzazate that has survived from ancient times. The Glaoui were the owners of all the southern lands, they controlled all the routes that led to the High Atlas. It was they who first put forward a proposal for cooperation to the French government when they wanted to have more control in areas of southern Morocco.
History of origin
The Kasbah was built in the 18th century. Only in the 19th century it was slightly supplemented with some buildings, and already in 1944 it was restored. All representatives of the Glaoui family lived in this place. The Kasbah is nestled among spectacular mountain scenery and the alluring Sahara Desert. This place is classified as a historical and cultural monument and is under the protection of UNESCO.
Architecture
The facade of the building is smooth, made of clay, completely covered with pits and relief geometric patterns. Behind its walls is hidden a real labyrinth of a large number of stairs with landings that lead to a large number of rooms with small windows. If you find yourself in a larger room, then it will definitely be decorated with stucco patterns, floral or geometric, and on the wooden ceilings you will see bright paintings, the floor is covered with red tiles. The passage to each room is made in the form of an arch, but without any doors. The building itself contains about three hundred rooms and twenty riads, where the sons, cousins and their staff lived. They all lived in this place to protect the interests of the clan in this territory. During French rule, this control was supported by the authorities, as the clan managed to keep the southern tribes in check.
Visitors to the Kasbah can enjoy hours of winding through labyrinths, passing through many gates and visiting all levels of towers and other buildings. The order in which all these structures were built allows for some hiding from the scorching sun, and ventilation comes from the side of the main courtyard. Time does not spare buildings, and therefore some of them look completely unattractive. But many more buildings have been preserved, and some of them are even being restored with the support of UNESCO, since this place is a true reflection of the lifestyle of the first owners: the Glaoui clan. The rooms for receiving visitors, the palace kitchen, beautiful cedar ceilings and plaster walls have been preserved.
Local families who live on the outskirts of Kasbah Taourirt try to pay attention to each visitor and provide gems of information, but not all for free.
Note to tourists
You can enjoy the view of Kasbah Taourirt, which at sunset begins to shimmer with all shades of gold and copper, in a nearby cafe with a cup of aromatic tea.
Nearby is a Berber village called ksara, which, according to many, existed long before the appearance of the Kasbah. This is a rather colorful and lively place, the appearance of which successfully mixes the present with the past. Very close to the building of the old synagogue there is now an Internet cafe, there is also a market where you can buy all kinds of carpets, and under the walls of the kasbah itself there is a bazaar where you can purchase carved stones, jewelry and ceramics, but be prepared for... astronomical prices. This place will be interesting to explore, both outside and inside, but you should hurry, as many buildings may completely disappear from the face of the earth in just 50 years.
