One must stop over in Ouarzazate before entering Southern Morocco. You will discover the ancestral wonders in cinemascope as you pan or zoom the town.
Ouarzazate was built in 1928 and is now, among other things, the starting point for trips into Southern Morocco. However this stopover town is now a destination in its own right. The recently restored Taourirt kasbah proves this point. Unesco has recognized this district with its ochre adobe buildings as a World Heritage of Humanity Site.The stucco decoration and the painted cedar ceilings in two magnificent rooms are particularly noteworthy.
Ouarzazate has been unfailingly linked with cinema since 1984. Its climate, geographical situation and economic conditions have encouraged film studios to locate there. The sets of films such as Lawrence of Arabia and Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra or the Sheltering Sky and Gladiator can be visited.
You can’t leave Ouarzazate without visiting the Tiffoultoute kasbah and the Ait Benhaddou ksar. These remarkable examples of traditional architecture give a foretaste of the famous Route of the 1000 kasbahs. The view from the impressive ksar (fort, plural ksour), which has been recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage Humanity Site, is a magnificent panorama of the palm grove, the reg (stony desert) and the Atlas mountains.
