Morocco Travel Guide

B3

D2

A3

B1

A3

C2

B1

B4

C3

C2

B2

B3

B3

B3

C2

(see    19)

B3

(see    6)

C4

(see    20)

C2

    Sleeping

4    Hôtel  el-Warda

5    Hôtel  Palais  Salam

6    Hôtel  Taroudannt

7    Naturally  Morocco Guest   House

8    Riad   Maryam  Résidence

    Eating

9    Chez   Nada

10   Fruit  &   Vegetable   Market

11   Jnane  Soussia

12   L'Agence

13   Mehdi  Snack

    Drinking

14   Cafe   Andalous

    Shopping

15   Argent du  Sud

16   Souq   Arabe

17   Souq   Berbère

Information

18   Hospital

IInezgane   Voyages

19   Pharmacie  du  Sud

Transport

Brahim  Bikes

20 Bus  Station

Grands  Taxis

21   Tinghir    Cars

History

Taroudannt was one of the early bases of the Almoravids, who established themselves here in
1056 AD, at the beginning of their conquest of Morocco. In the 16th century the emerging
Saadians made it their capital for about 20 years. By the time they moved on to Marrakesh,
they had turned the Souss Valley, in which the city stands, into the country’s most important
producer of sugar cane, cotton, rice and indigo; all valuable trade items on the trans-Saharan
trade routes the dynasty was keen to control. The Saadians constructed the old part of town
and the kasbah, though most of it was destroyed and the inhabitants massacred in 1687 by
Moulay Ismail, as punishment for opposing him. Only the ramparts survived. Most of what
stands inside them dates from the 18th century.

Taroudannt continued to be a centre of intrigue and sedition against the central government
well into the 20th century, and indeed played host to the Idrissid El-Hiba, a southern chief who
opposed the Treaty of Fès, the 1912 agreement that created the French Protectorate.