Kasbah Taourirt

About this place

A fortified earthen complex in the heart of Ouarzazate, first built, local tradition says, by the powerful Imzwarn family in the seventeenth century, then taken over and enlarged in the nineteenth century by the Glaoui family, for whom it became a key southern seat, controlling the meeting of the Draa and Dadès valleys on the Saharan caravan routes. The Glaoui family became famous in the twentieth century through Thami El Glaoui, pasha of Marrakech throughout the French Protectorate. After the family's power ended the kasbah declined and parts collapsed, until it was added to the national heritage list in 1954; parts were later restored and opened to visitors. You walk narrow passages and stairways between rooms and courtyards to the reception halls with painted wooden ceilings, coloured stucco and wrought-iron window grilles overlooking the valley. From outside, its decorated earthen towers are among the finest sights in town, with the old ksar around it still lived in. Entry is by a small ticket, about twenty to thirty dirhams according to recent guides; it stands in the town centre opposite the cinema museum, so it fits a walk around Ouarzazate.