Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou

Its location on the caravan route linking Sudan to Morocco's imperial cities made the Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou one of the most important ksour of the region.

It is also one of the best preserved, its earthen architecture exemplifying a style of pre-Saharan construction found throughout the Maghreb.

According to oral tradition, Ait-Ben-Haddou was inhabited by the Amazigh Berbers before the seventh century; it was a well-known settlement by the 11th century.

Although built using techniques disseminated since ancient times by Saharan craftsmen, the oldest surviving edifices date from the 17th century.

The methods of Ait-Ben-Haddou's earthen construction range from clay bricks and moulded earth, to rammed earth fashioned into panel bricks or bull headers.

Palm and willow wood along with laurel branches and stone are also used.

The ksar's clustered and vertical spatial organisation is dictated by environmental conditions and a scarcity of arable land.

Huddled on the southern slopes of the High Atlas, it is a tiered group of dwellings crowded within a defensive wall.

These ramparts are reinforced by corner towers and pierced by two baffle gates that restrict access to a few people at a time.

The uppermost building, a fortified communal granary, is also the oldest; inhabitants retreated into its circular ramparts during battles.

Just below are small residences grouped into family units ( also called ksour) and public amenities: a mosque and madrasa, a caravanserai and a public square.

On the lowest tier are wealthy country homes known in Berber as tighremts and in Arabic as casbahs.

Structured around a central courtyard, they commonly feature four fortified wings flanked by corner towers.

Ground floors are reserved for agricultural uses while two upper storeys serve as living quarters.

Decorated with rich clay brick motifs, they are indicative of the ksar's flourishing during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Outside the ramparts are the Muslim and Jewish cemeteries and communal grain threshing areas.

The ksar was continuously inhabited until the 1960s when the majority of its inhabitants relocated to the bank of the nearby Oued Maleh.

Today, ten families remain, perpetuating a southern Moroccan lifestyle made vulnerable by irreversible socioeconomic and cultural changes.