Rock the Kasbah

Question: What UNESCO World Heritage Site in southwestern Morocco is located directly inside a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve?

Answer: Aït Benhaddou

Recognized by UNESCO in 1987, Aït Benhaddou is an ancient, fortified hilltop village nestled within the Southern Moroccan Oasis Biosphere Reserve (Oasis du Sud Marocain), a corridor of land between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara.

Most historians believe the roots of Aït Benhaddou stretch back to the 11th century when it was founded as a Berber tribal settlement (“Aït” in the Berber language of Amazigh is “the people of” and “Ben Haddou” is thought to be a legendary Berber chieftain). Its strategic location would soon make Aït Benhaddou the most important stop on the ancient trans-Saharan trade route, where camel caravans laden with gold, silver, and slaves could break up their months-long journey between the Sudan and the imperial cities of Marrakesh, Fez, and Meknes.

All of this wealth passing through attracted bandits, of course, but Aït Benhaddou’s location had been carefully chosen. Built upon a gentle hill overlooking the Ounila River, the town commanded excellent views of approaching travelers while remaining close to irrigated fields and orchards—crucial in the harsh climate of southern Morocco. As a result, Aït Benhaddou grew increasingly prosperous over the centuries, with trade and tolls funding the addition of multi-story kasbahs, a mosque, a communal granary, a caravanserai (secure lodgings for merchants and camels), and two cemeteries—one Jewish and one Muslim.

We should mention that Aït Benhaddou wasn’t the only fortified village along this ancient trade route. After all, this region of Morocco was called the Route of a Thousand Kasbahs. What makes Aït Benhaddou stand out from the rest—and earned it recognition from UNESCO—is not just its age and location. It is the construction itself. What has kept the walls of Aït Benhaddou standing for centuries isn’t Roman concrete or anything like that but a system of ancient Berber construction using the earth itself. In fact, every structure at Aït Benhaddou is made entirely from materials found within walking distance of the site.

This unique earthen construction technique uses a mixture of tightly packed earth, clay, and straw for the lower floors and load-bearing walls. The upper floors are constructed with adobe bricks to reduce the weight on the structure below, along with cedar and palm wood for roof beams. These materials weren’t just cost-cutting measures, either. The thick earthen walls were a form of natural insulation, keeping interiors cool during the summer heat and retaining warmth through cold desert nights.

Everything about the layout and construction of Aït Benhaddou was based on its defense, from the single main gate and narrow winding alleys designed to slow down intruders to a fortified granary (called an agadir) at top to store the village’s food supply in case of a siege.

While the site has been occupied much longer, the current structures at Aït Benhaddou date no earlier than the 17th century. That’s mostly because earthen architecture is not meant to last forever. It’s actually purposely built to be renewed. After heavy rains or seasonal storms, residents would re-plaster facades with fresh layers of mud and straw and replace any damaged wooden elements. When UNESCO began helping to preserve Aït Benhaddou, concrete was strictly prohibited and any repairs that were done followed the same methods used to build the original structures.

Oh, and one other thing. Even in Morocco, Aït Benhaddou is often referred to as a Kasbah. But, technically, it’s a Ksar. Kasbahs are fortified family dwellings, while a Ksar is a fortified village consisting of several multi-story Kasbahs inside its protective walls—which is the case at Aït Benhaddou. Although, “come with me to the Ksar” doesn’t have quite the ring to it as “come weeth me to zee Kasbah,” does it?

You look familiar—have we ever met?

There’s a reason why many people are struck by a sense of deja vu when seeing Aït Benhaddou. It’s because they have been here before, in a way. Just about every time a film requires a location resembling an “ancient holy city,” Aït Benhaddou gets the call. As the most filmed location in Morocco, you’ve seen it in everything from Gladiator and The Mummy to The Man Who Would Be King and The Last Temptation of Christ. You’ve seen it in Kingdom of Heaven, Babel, Prince of Persia, Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, and dozens of others. It even appeared as Yunkai, the “Yellow City,” in Game of Thrones.

Yet it’s curious that while Aït Benhaddou has appeared on the big screen as a stand-in for destinations throughout the ancient world—from Rome, Jerusalem and Cairo to Persia, Afghanistan and Troy—it has never once appeared as itself. It also makes one wonder if the constant presence of film crews would be harmful to a fragile, thousand-year-old village constructed of earth and straw. But ironically, the opposite is true. Ever since Director David Lean arrived in Aït Benhaddou in 1962 to shoot scenes from Lawrence of Arabia, the local economy has greatly benefited from the jobs and money provided by the film industry. 

Hollywood had actually discovered this photogenic region at the edge of the Sahara in 1951, when Orson Welles came to nearby Ouarzazate to shoot scenes from Othello. On a strict budget, Welles needed an inexpensive area that offered diverse terrain within a short distance—coastal, desert, mountains, and medieval cities. Plus, with 300 days of sunshine, Morocco was a dream come true. Eventually, this led to the opening, in 1983, of Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate. With standing sets of representing ancient Egypt, Jerusalem, and even a Tibetan monastery, Atlas is now the largest open-air film studio in the world.

While conservation efforts are ongoing in Aït Benhaddou, it is inevitable that a number of structures continue to be slowly reclaimed by the desert. That’s why in addition to help from UNESCO, funds from local film productions have benefited the five or so families who currently reside in the kasbahs of Aït Benhaddou in their efforts to maintain and preserve the integrity of their ancient dwellings—work that is probably made a bit easier since they get to witness the rise and fall of so many cinematic empires right from their doorsteps.

But forget about all that Hollywood fiction. Mud-brick towers of a very real thousand-year-old Moroccan village rising from a hillside glowing amber in the sun is not something you see every day. That could be why Aït Benhaddou is one of the most photographed places on Earth.

A few more fascinating facts about Aït Benhaddou

• Gate keeper—Most, but not everything, at Aït Benhaddou is as it appears to be. The front gate was built specifically for the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Because it was erected before Aït Benhaddou became a UNESCO site in 1987, it was allowed to stay. Since then, anything erected by movie or TV producers must be removed before filming is complete.
• We were here first—Morocco’s Berber population are the oldest inhabitants of North Africa, having lived in the region for more than 20,000 years.
• We’ll miss you—While a handful of Berber families still remain in Aït Benhaddou, others left to seek better living conditions and modern amenities. They didn’t go far, though. A “new town” was established just across the river at Aït Benhaddou, where the majority of them reside today.
• Social studies—Rather than the vision of a single architect, the design and construction of Aït Benhaddou reflects centuries of accumulated knowledge. The preservation of the towers, courtyards, and passageways at the site has provided historians, architects, and anthropologists with extraordinary insights into the organization of ancient communities in one of North Africa’s most demanding environments. 
• Yours, mine, and ours—While tradition has identified a figure known as Ben Haddou, historians wish to emphasize that the origins of the site reflect a collective community rather than any individual ownership—which is a defining characteristic of Amazigh social organization.
• Back and forth—Camel caravans passing through at Aït Benhaddou arriving from Timbuktu, Gao, and other Saharan centers often carried gold, salt, leather, ivory, medicinal plants, ostrich feathers, and dates. On the return journey, they carried things like textiles, ceramics, metal tools, horses, and manuscripts.
• Not just a pretty façade—The many decorative motifs carved into the towers and façades of Aït Benhaddou aren’t just for show. While the geometric patterns expressed regional artistic traditions, they also protected vulnerable surfaces from erosion by channeling rainwater away from walls.
• Top priority— The ground floors of Aït Benhaddou accommodated animals, along with storage rooms and workshops. Living quarters were all on the upper levels. Social interactions and household activities took place on rooftop terraces, which also functioned as spaces for drying crops.

Experience A Day in the Life of a local family living by this iconic UNESCO World Heritage Site on Morocco Sahara Odyssey.