Calèche round the walls
Horse-drawn tours from Place Talmoklate.
Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Holger Uwe Schmitt — CC BY-SA 4.0
Taroudant is a walled market town in the Souss valley, sometimes called little Marrakech. Its old town lies within ochre ramparts of rammed earth and lime, roughly 7 to 8 km round, set with some 130 towers and pierced by five historic gates; newer openings were cut for traffic. The Saadian dynasty rose in this valley: its first leader was proclaimed at nearby Tidsi in 1510, and Taroudant became its early base, from which Muhammad al-Shaykh ruled the Souss. He gave the town its present walls in the 1520s, renewed its kasbah and Great Mosque, and from here took Agadir's Portuguese fort in 1541. Wall sections fell in the 2023 earthquake; restoration, begun in August 2025, was ongoing in 2026. The main gates have double entrances around a courtyard where caravans were checked and taxed. Bab el-Kasbah was the sultans' gate, and Bab Targhount, once called the gate of raids, is said to be where armies set out on campaign; just outside it a working tannery sells leather goods. Inside, the craft souk runs between Place Assarag, ringed by cafés with evening street performers, and Place Talmoklate, where calèches wait to circle the walls. Taroudant lies about 70 km east of Agadir as the crow flies, 80 to 85 km by road; buses and grand taxis stop by Bab Zorgane. Wandering is free; allow half a day. Summer heat can pass 40 °C, so avoid July and August. The Kasbah of Agadir Oufella lies about 71 km west and Tiznit Old Town about 118 km south-west, in straight lines.
Horse-drawn tours from Place Talmoklate.
Cafés and evening street performers.
A working tannery outside the west gate.
Walled old town around Place Assarag, Taroudant
As in most Moroccan mosques, only Muslims may enter; the mosque, renewed by Muhammad al-Shaykh in the 16th century, was rebuilt after a fire in 2013. Dress modestly in the lanes around it, with shoulders and knees covered (women cover their hair inside), and keep clear of its doors at prayer times, especially Friday midday prayer.
The Arab or craft souk, in the lanes between Place Assarag and Place Talmoklate, sells leather, babouches, silver jewellery and Taroudant sandals; Jnan Jamaa, the Berber souk entered from Place Talmoklate, sells food, argan and olive oil, amlou and fabrics. Much of Jnan Jamaa burned in October 2025, so ask locally which stalls are trading again.