6th step: from Rissani to Mhamid
From Rissani to Nkob
Between Rissani and Nkob, the road goes through a desert with thorny acacias
and engraved rocks. The only important place from the architectural point of view in the entire route is Tazzarine, the rest being
basically nomadic grazing areas.
SEE SOME ENGRAVINGS
Tazzarine constitutes a vast oasis in which different villages
are distributed and where we find again the first Kasbahs from the Todra valley. Several tracks let go through this palm grove and
admire its beautiful soil architecture.
Tazzarine
When reaching Nkob, we discover forty Kasbahs protruding from
a huge palm grove, forming a beautiful picture if we are not in a year of drought. All these Kasbahs have been built in the early
twentieth century by the families Ait Atta that became sedentary in this time. Some of them has been transformed into hotels.
Also in Nkob, inside the Baha Baha
resort mentioned in the page about
hosting, there is an interesting museum about Ait Atta traditions, small but curious. Fee: 10 DH.
From Nkob to Zagora
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Leaving Nkob, the road runs along a barren and unpopulated country to reach
the Drâa valley, which constitues an unexpected explosion of life: a succession of oasis dotted with dozens of Kasbahs and three
hundred Ksour.
In order to know better this valley, you can read the book Trésors et
merveilles de la vallée du Drâa mentioned in the page "Livres".
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If we take in Tansikht the direction of Zagora, we discover a little while
Ouaouzagour, which is in ruins but has a spectacular view thanks to its location on the edge of the cliff.
A little further, in Oulad Atmane, we’ll see the
Kasbah of Kaid Larbi (30º 36.263’ N 6º 10.077’ W), one of the strong kaids of the Drâa, who collaborate with
El Glaoui during the first half of the twentieth century. The building presents a recent style, with urban influence in some details,
as the cedar roofs and the arches surrounding the windows. It’s open to visitors by an entry fee and one portion has been transformed into a guesthouse.
In Tinzouline we find a very special Kasbah named
Er Ribat (30º 30.436’ N - 6º 06.012’ W). It’s distributed around an enormous courtyard, with twenty six pillars
that hold galleries without arches. Inside lives a simply family that can show you the building (provide a tip).
Ribat of Tinzouline |
Ribat courtyard |
Before reaching Zagora, the Ksar Tissergat
(30º 23.784’ N - 5º 51.528’ W) deserves also a special mention for its superb whole image and for the fact that it was restored in 1968
thanks to the UN-funded program about which we have already spoken, so now it is in a very acceptable state of preservation. Inside there
is a big museum and an ancient Kasbah of El Hiba, transformed now into a hotel.
Ksar Tissergat |
Tissergat museum |
From Zagora to Mhamid
Zagora is a modern administrative center with no other attraction that its comfortable
hotels.
The Ksar Amezrou (30º 18.436’ N - 5º 49.356’ W) is very next
to Zagora and is one of the most interesting in this area. It include a neighborhood where Jewish lived before their emigration in the
1960’s and a big mosque with a curious earthen minaret.
Another very important Ksar is Tamegroute, with small streets
absolutely dark and mysterious. Tamegroute is also the main pottery center of southern Morocco and a Zaouia that includes a
wide library of arabic manuscripts. Nevertheless, this library is now into a modern building. On the contrary, the
shrine of Sidi Mohamed Ben Nasser, founder of the Tarika Nasseria in the seventeenth century, is old and decorated with engraved plaster
and cedar wood.
Amezrou mosque |
Tamegroute pottery |
Zaouia of Tamegroute |
Street in Tamegroute |
Beyond Tamegroute, the road goes away from the valley to pass a stretch of the
river, but it reaches back in the oasis of Ktaoua, which was another of the great historic commercial centers such as the Tafilalet, when
caravans linked Morocco to the sub-Saharan Africa. Among the large number of Ksour of the Ktaoua, the most important for their trade
activity were Nesrat (30º 00.804’ N - 5º 31.781’ W), Beni Hayoun
(29º 59.117’ N - 5º 33.027’ W) and Beni Sbih (29º 57.329’ N - 5º 33.774’ W).
Nesrat |
Beni Sbih |
Next to Nesrat stands also a smaller Ksar, curious for its location between
the dunes: Ait Isfoul. It’s a little village where inhabited the Ait Atta warriors who protect the sedentary
population of Nesrat, composed by peaceful farmers and traders.
Beyond the Ktaoua oasis, we go away again from the valley to avoid by a
mountain pass the
canyon of Foum Larjam, where prehistoric mounds are very numerous, and we come back in the Mhamid oasis. There the
palm trees are scattered among small dunes forming a beautiful landscape.
Among the Ksour of this oasis we must mention Oulad Driss
(29º 49.857’ N - 5º 39.337’ W), dated in the seventeenth century. Inside, two homes have been restored and present a large number
of antiquities, some of them very curious.
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ARCHEO - EXPOSITION OULAD DRISS, phone 0667966468. Fee: 20 DH including
tea and the guided visit of the Ksar. It has been the first such initiative taken in this region and presents a more cultural aspect
than its neighbor, because its promoter is ethnologist, although the house is smaller.
When arriving to the modern Mhamid, a track allows to continue to the south
to discover the last Ksour, as Mhamid El Ghizlane itself (29º 48.450’ N - 5º 44.236’ W) and Talha
(29º 48.834’ N - 5º 42.897’ W).
Ksar Mhamid El Ghizlane
In the latter is being revitalized the pottery, an activity that had been important formerly.
Mosque in Mhamid El Ghizlane |
Pottery kiln in Talha |
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