Morocco Travel Guide

HISTORIC    SITE

KSAR

KSAR

HISTORIC    SITE

MUSEUM

RESTAURANT, INN

HOTEL

Ksar Aber

Offline mapBehind   the zawiya  along   a   dirt    track   you’ll  see the fantastic   crumbling   towers  of  this

19th-century stronghold, which formerly housed the dynasty’s disgraced or unwanted members
and – like those black sheep – has been abandoned to its ruination.

Ksar Oulad Abdelhalim

Offline map About 1km or so past the zawiya on your right, this glorious ruin once called the
‘Alhambra of the Tafilalt’ was built around 1900 for Sultan Moulay Hassan’s elder brother. Walk
through the wooden door into the walled compound, then veer right, left and right again to
admire the palace’s few intact painted ceiling beams and carved stucco windows.

Ksar Tinheras

Offline map Back    on  the road,   you’ll  continue    past    another group   of  ksour,  some    of  which   are still

inhabited by the Filali. This one’s a standout for views.

Sijilmassa

Offline map Just    before  you reach   Rissani are the ruins   of  the capital of  a   virtually   independent

Islamic principality adhering to the Shiite ‘heresy’ in the early days of the Arab conquest of
North Africa. Sijilmassa’s foundation is lost in myth – some speculate it was AD 757 – but by
the end of the 8th century it was a staging post for trans-Saharan trade. Caravans of up to
20,000 camels departed Sijilmassa for the remote desert salt mines of Taodeni and Tagahaza
(in modern-day Mali), then continued to Niger and Ghana, where a pound of Saharan salt was
traded for an ounce of African gold.

But as Berbers say, where there’s gold, there’s trouble. Internal feuding led to the collapse of
fabled Sijilmassa in the 14th century. Alawite Sultan Moulay Ismail rebuilt Sijilmassa in the 18th
century, only for it to be conquered and destroyed by Aït Atta nomadic warriors. Sijilmassa has
remained a ruin, with only two decorated gateways and other partially standing structures. With
all this glorious decay, album-cover photo shoots fairly beg to be set here.

Musee Ksar El Fida

Offline map (    0661   84  78  17; Rissani;    entry   with    guide   Dh10)   Just    2.5km   south   of  town    you’ll

see signs for this enormous restored Alawaite kasbah (1854–72) displaying key artefacts of
kasbah life, from elaborate costumes to a 19th-century toolbox.

Sleeping & Eating

Auberge Kasbah Derkaoua $$$

Offline map ( /fax 0535 57 71 40; www.aubergederkaoua.com, in French; meals Dh150-300;
closed Jan, some of Jun-Aug; ) Signposted off the main road south of Rissani, this
former Sufi centre makes a welcome retreat from society, with lavish Moroccan-French fusion
lunches and dips in the garden pool.

Hôtel Sijilmassa $