Ait Benhaddou
UNESCO World Heritage Site: Ksar Of Ait Ben Haddou (1987), A Fortified Earthen Village Of Packed Mud Kasbahs On The Old Caravan Route Between Marrakesh And The Sahara · Ait Benhaddou, Draa-Tafilalet
Ait Benhaddou is a fortified earthen village, a ksar, stacked up a hillside above the Ounila river on the old caravan road between Marrakesh and the Sahara, and it is the most photographed building complex in southern Morocco. It was inscribed by UNESCO in 1987 as the best surviving example of the pre-Saharan earthen architecture of the Draa valleys: towers and houses of packed mud, straw and stone, incised with geometric patterns and crowned by a ruined agadir, the collective granary, on the summit. Everything here is made of the hill it stands on, which means rain dissolves it and the ksar needs constant repair, so what you see is an honest mixture of old fabric and recent rebuilding. Almost everyone moved across the river to the modern village generations ago and only a handful of families still live inside. It has stood in for ancient Rome, Jerusalem and half the invented cities of television, and the souvenir trade in the lower lanes leans hard on that. The honest caveat: many people are done in 45 minutes, so do not build a whole day around it alone.
Ksar of Ait Benhaddou on the east bank of the Ounila river, off the N9 about 30 km north-west of Ouarzazate, Ait Benhaddou, Draa-Tafilalet, Morocco
The ksar is a village rather than a monument: the lanes are open through the day and there is usually no formal ticket for walking up, although a small charge or a donation is often asked at the river crossing, at the summit granary or by individual houses that let you in to see a room - confirm on the day and carry coins. Gates are effectively first light to dusk, since the climb is unlit and the lanes are uneven. Shops and cafes in the lower lanes and across the river keep long daily hours, shorter in Ramadan. Access is by road only: about 30 km from Ouarzazate on the N9, roughly 4 hours from Marrakesh over the Tizi n'Tichka pass, and about 5 to 6 hours from Merzouga. Grand taxis run from Ouarzazate, and coaches on the N9 drop on the main road.