Aït Benhaddou

Feel the ground first. It is dry and fine, the colour of milky tea, and it sticks to your shoes. Above you, a whole hillside of towers and walls rises in the same warm earth. There is no paint and no tile, just one material shaped by hand into a village. In the morning the walls look pale and dusty. By late afternoon they turn the deep orange of a clay pot taken from the fire.

You are standing at Aït Benhaddou, a fortified village in southern Morocco. Here it is called a ksar. A ksar is a group of earthen houses packed tightly together and protected by an outer wall. It sits on a hill above the Ounila River, in the commune of Ait Zineb, not far from the town of Ouarzazate. Behind it, the land climbs towards the High Atlas mountains.

The location tells you why this place exists. For centuries, trade caravans crossed the Sahara carrying goods north towards Marrakech. Salt, gold, dates and other goods moved along these routes on camels. Travellers needed water, shelter and protection along the way. A hill beside a river, with fields in the valley below, was a good place to stop. The ksar grew into a stopping point on that road.

Now look closely at the walls. They are made from earth, built in two main ways. One method is rammed earth. Builders packed damp soil hard into wooden frames, layer by layer, then moved the frame upward. The other method uses sun-dried mud bricks. Straw is often mixed into the earth to help hold it together. In places where the surface has worn away, you can still see the lines between the layers.

Here is something many visitors do not expect. The village looks ancient, and people often guess it is a thousand years old. But earth does not last forever. Rain, wind and time slowly wear it down, so walls must be repaired again and again. UNESCO notes that none of the buildings standing today are thought to be older than the seventeenth century. The design is old. The walls in front of you are much younger.

That constant care is part of the story. An earthen village survives only when people keep working on it. Roofs need fresh layers of mud. Cracks must be filled before the rains arrive. When families stop living in a house, it can collapse within a few decades. So each straight wall you see today is a sign that someone has recently climbed up with a bucket and repaired it.

In 1987, Aït Benhaddou was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. UNESCO chose it as an outstanding example of the earthen architecture of southern Morocco. The ksar shows how a whole community could plan its defence, its homes, its storage and its shared spaces within one walled hill. Inside, you will find simple houses alongside taller fortified buildings with corner towers. These larger buildings are known as kasbahs.

Lift your eyes to the upper parts of the towers. Down low, the walls are plain and solid. Higher up, the builders added patterns. Look for small triangles, diamonds, notches and lines cut or moulded into the earth. These shapes catch the light and throw short, sharp shadows. They show that these buildings were built for defence and for pride. A family wanted its tower to be seen from far away.

As you climb, the lanes become narrow and twist between the houses. The air is cooler in the shade. Thick earth walls keep heat out during the day and hold warmth at night. This is one reason earth has been used in desert regions for so long. Small windows and tight alleys also reduce the sun. Put your hand on a shaded wall, and then on one in full sun. You will feel the difference.

At the very top of the hill stand the remains of a fortified granary. Communities in this region stored grain and other goods in buildings like this one. These were the safest places they had. In times of trouble, food was the most valuable thing a village owned. From up here, you can see why the spot was chosen. The whole valley spreads out below you, and anyone approaching could be seen long before they arrived.

You may feel that you have seen this view before. You probably have. Aït Benhaddou has appeared in many films and television series. Scenes for Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and The Mummy were filmed here or nearby. Parts of Game of Thrones were shot here too. Film crews like the earth tones and the lack of modern buildings. Locals are proud of this history, and some will happily point out where a famous scene was shot.

Today, very few families still live inside the old walls. Most residents moved to the newer village across the river, where there is electricity, running water and road access. That newer village is where you probably parked and walked in. The old ksar is now mainly a place of craft shops, small cafés and a few remaining homes. Shopkeepers sell carpets, paintings and jewellery. Some painters even use tea or saffron to tint their pictures.

Before you leave, stop at the riverbank and look back. Notice how the village seems to grow straight out of the hill, as if the earth itself had been raised into walls. Listen for the river, the voices from the lanes, perhaps a donkey somewhere below. The colour will keep changing as the sun moves. And each layer of mud on those walls was put there by a person who chose to keep this village standing.