Morocco has so many ancient sites that you could spend a lifetime to visit them and study them, and many other places were, imagined (as in Casablanca) or real (as in Lawrence of Arabia) life-changing world events. I remember seeing a revival of David Lean film Lawrence of Arabia in London around 1989, some twenty years after it first came out, and I immediately recognized that it was filmed in the vicinity of my favorite retreats in Morocco - close to the city of Ouarzazate in the old Berber village of Ait Ben Haddou. These places are worth a visit on their own, but the real attraction for me is the Kasbah Taouirt.
A kasbah or casbah, is the inner part of a city, a variant of Medina. Taourirt Kasbah is among the largest in North Africa, a place where warlords in the ancient past have lived and defended themselves against external attacks. There is barely a hundred years, the French gave the tribal leaders in this area of great power Morocco to avoid having to try to control the various tribes centered in the south with the French troops, who would have been too costly.
Taourirt Kasbah has high walls without windows. It was built on a series of low hills to make it easier to defend. Kasbah Taourirt is best described as a network of interlocking buildings with towers and growing multi-level tight ksours (PMQs in the Kasbah), fortified walls and a series of streets and bridges turrets. There are over twenty Moroccan riads or old houses, which are Taouirt. It was a hive or a city within a city.
Inside the Kasbah, you will find dozens of cages mysterious stairs to rooms uniquely shaped illuminated by low windows. The large rooms have plaster decorations with floral motifs that contrast with bleached white walls. The Palace of the Pasha only has something like three hundred rooms.
Clenched and majestic tower houses, which are made of a mixture of chalk and sand that has hardened like cement, almost imperceptibly into the surrounding landscape and red ocher. As cubic clay houses are sitting in scorching sun, protected only by the shadow of their neighbors, narrow doors are often the only link with the outside world. Light and air are allowed inside cool in the central courtyard.
Like most parts of the Kasbah fell into decline, you are likely to be shown by local guides are restored parts (UNESCO) located near the main road, with their courses and reception rooms. If you, like me, want a deeper understanding of the Kasbah Taourirt, ask your guide to take you to the back of Taourirt, which is still inhabited by local families. For twenty dirhams in loose change, people are always willing to show you around and give you a glimpse of life as it has been here since the beginning of recorded time.
If you explore the Kasbah Taouirt takes you in the evening, I urge you to take a drink and watch the sunset from the terrace of the coffee you will find next to the studios of stone, copper and silver works of art to the right of the Kasbah. While you enjoy something cool, sitting on the terrace, you will discover an unforgettable view of the setting sun over the Sahara fortified village. You'll probably want to come back....
