Idea #447 – Exploring the Aït Ben Haddou Ksar
Aït-ben-Haddou (in tifinagh : ⴰⵢⵜ ⵃⴰⴷⴷⵓ, en arabe : آيت بن حدّو) is an ighrem (ksar in Arabic) of Morocco, in the province of Ouarzazate. The village appears as a set of buildings of crude earthsurrounded with bulwarks, the ksar, which is a type of preSaharan traditional housing environment. Houses, in crude earth, group together inside its defensive walls, also in crude earth. Some of these houses, the Kasbahs, are real strong houses, flanked in the angles of square turrets, decorated with geometrical motives.
The oldest constructions would date the XVIIth century. The site would moreover have been one of the numerous counters of the commercial road which connect to Saharan Africa in Marrakesh; it is besides still possible to see a fondouk, that to say a caravanserai. Its location was strategically chosen, on a dominating hill one oasis. The ksar of Aït-ben-Haddou is registered on the UNESCO world heritage list since 1987.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Aït Ben Haddou, Ouarzazate, Morocco