Aït Benhaddou, Cinema Museum & Kasbah Taourirt

January 7^th, 2026

About 40 minutes away from Ouarzazate is the UNESCO World Heritage Site Aït Benhaddou.  It is a ksar, which is the name for a fortified village in North Africa.  Located on a small hill, as most ksars are, it has been around since the 11^th century.  Thanks to its historic looks, it has been the backdrop for many movies and films, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, James Bond The Living Daylights, The Last Temptation of Christ, Game of Thrones and the list goes on.

 

It’s recommended to either visit at sunrise or sunset, when the golden light brings out the best in the ancient buildings.  I opted for sunrise as it’s not too early to get up with sunrise around 8:30 am at this time of year.  I asked one of the campground’s staff the night before when the gate would be open in the morning and he stated 7 am, but it wasn’t until 7:45 that I was able to get going…which was going to cut it close.

Racing towards Aït Benhaddou to catch sunrise...actually, I was doing the speed limit, there are way too many speed traps in this country.

My phone doesn't do it justice, but the snowy Atlas Mountains looked fabulous in the pre-sunrise light.

I drove into the modern part of Aït Benhaddou at 8:26, one minute before the official sunrise time.  I had preselected a parking lot on Google Maps but just before I entered town, there was an open area with a seller setting up his stall and it was situated on a bit of a hill with a good view of the ksar. 

 

I passed by and went down a bit of a hill into town and realized that by the time I parked and walked to a viewpoint, I would miss sunrise.  I backtracked to the small hill and was greeted by the vendor.  He asked if I’d be interested in looking at his goods, but to enjoy the sunrise first.  I appreciated that.

Just made it in time!

Taking in the sunrise.

It was worth getting up early!

Checking out the lovely mountains.

Having enjoyed the initial moments of sunrise, I formally met the vendor who was still laying out his goods on numerous tables.  His name was Abdou and he was probably in his late 40s.

There were small pieces of artwork, a bit bigger than a postcard, that got my attention…which is saying something as I rarely purchase anything when I’m travelling.  Abdou noticed and pulled out a magnifying glass and showed me how some parts of the pictures are created, by burning the thin cardboard-like paper.

And it works even in the early morning sun!

A glass ball is used for the finer lines in the picture.

“Have you got a desert passport?” he asked me in a thick accent.  I was pretty sure that he said passport.  I replied no and he told me to follow him down a small ramp into a tiny shop that was dug into the hillside.  Turns out he, his father and his brother run this little enterprise.

 

Well a “desert passport” is long, rectangular piece of cloth that is wrapped around your head known as a tagelmust or litham in Morocco but there are many names for this type of headgear around Africa and the Middle East.  Abdou gave me a lesson on how to put it on your head.

Me and my new friend Abdou.

Now it was time to walk up the ksar.  I drove into town and easily found a parking spot on the quiet early morning main street.

The pedestrian bridge was constructed in 2011.  It's good for tourists but they were also hoping to entice more locals to move back to the historic part of town as there are very few families left there.

That's a sleeping cat nestled in a nook on the wall between the doors...enjoying the early morning sunlight.

Trying to figure my way out to the top...

That's not someone's colourful laundry...there were many vendors selling clothes, artwork and trinkets.

I felt a bit lucky to be here with the Atlas Mountains check full of snow...it's not normally like this.

The view from the top of the hill.

The terrain reminded me of the badlands in Alberta, Canada.

This looked like tourists being let across the river on stepping stones.  I was down in that area later and it was a line of sandbags.  Not sure why thy didn't just use the bridge...

This gate was definitely used in the Game of Thrones.

One last selfie and it's time to move on to the next spot.

Satisfied with my walk around the village, I hopped back in Octi, after paying an old man in a high-vis vest 10 dirhams ($1.50 CAD) for “being a guardian” of the vehicle, even though he wasn’t there when I arrived, and drove off towards my next destination, the Fint Oasis.

I stopped for a quick photo at the Kasbah of Tifoultoute.  I had a nice chat with a couple in their early 60s from England.

The vendor Abdou suggested that I visit the Fint Oasis, and I had also read about it on a few traveller’s blogs.  The route to the oasis took me about 10 minutes back the way that I arrived at Ouarzazate a couple of days earlier and then veered off to the east.  I could see a grove of palm trees in a valley from the plateau I was on and as the road started to descend, there was a local man in his 30s flagging me down.  I assumed he was a hitchhiker so I stopped and quickly cleared off some things from the passenger seat as hitchhiking is quite common in Morocco.  I rolled down my window, and he asked if I wanted a guide.  I declined and continued on.

Some interesting rock formations near the Fint Oasis.

The road got bumpy and rough as the pavement disappeared, so I slowed to a crawl.  There were a couple of kids and a couple of young adults hanging out by a sharp curve in the road.  One of the men signalled me to lower my window.  He was polite, said hi and asked how I was doing and told me that I should park right there as the river wasn’t good to cross with a vehicle.  I thought I was still a bit of a distance from the main part of the oasis, and I figured he just wanted to be my guide so I became a bit defensive. 

 

I think he could sense my hesitation, so he told me to follow him, with no strings attached, and he would just show me the river.  I followed him in the van about 50 meters and then saw the river, which was probably passable, but I didn’t care to risk it.  He suggested that we walk across and he could show me around the village and how the locals live.  I just wasn’t interested.  I’m not crazy about being guided around where the attraction in question is other humans.  I turned Octi around and headed back to the city.

The water crossing that I decided not to try.

Heading back to Ouarzazate.

A little tiny oasis by the highway.

Another attraction in Ouarzazate was the Cinema Museum which was built in 2007 at the site of an old studio built by an Italian film company.  In 2024, there was a fire at the museum, so they lost a number of sets.

On my walk from the campground to the museum, I passed by this pack of sleeping street dogs.  There are three others on the other side of the planter that you can't see...I think 9 in total.

The steps up to the museum.

At the top of the steps.

The entrance to the Cinema Museum.

A plane fuselage, some cannons and a few weird structures.

A pretty sad looking bi-plane.

This cells might have been used in Gladiator.

It was a tired old museum and I seemed to be the only visitor but I did run into one couple part way through my time there.

Pretty cheesy looking pharoah.

Old film cameras and sound equipment.

The black projector on the right is from around 1913 I believe.

Not sure why the model jet fighters were in this part of the exhibit.

There were some props and costumes in a side room.

There was a plethora of thrones...let's see which one you like.  This one?

Throne #2?

Throne #3?  I like this one thanks to the big head.

Or throne #4?

When you see the whole room...this one looks pretty good.

And our last option, Throne #5...

...which has a lovely view...

...and comes with a mannequin soldier too!

Or you can choose just to hang around.

After about half an hour in the museum, it was time to cross the street for the last stop of the day, the Kasbah Taourirt.  It was built in the 17^th century and boasts around 300 rooms!

An old section of the kasbah.

Just after I paid my entrance fee, an older local bespectacled man in a long robe approached me.  He was the third person hoping to be my guide today.  After some discussion about the cost and length of the tour, I decided to utilize his services, although I was skeptical at first how much of his explanations I would understand as not only was he speaking in French, but he also had a low, mumbling voice.

Hard to tell with no perspective, but this door is not very tall...look at the next photo.

My guide Shareed was a wealth of knowledge, but I have to admit that some of it wasn't terribly interesting to me.

We only walked through about 20 rooms, which surprised me, but Shareed told me that a lot of the kasbah is being renovated/repaired after the earthquake of 2023.

I'm not a cat person, but this was pretty cute.

On the right are the guard towers along the perimeter of the outer wall of the kasbah.

This is the mausoleum for a former religious leader...I believe.

The only plant that I saw in the place...in the courtyard of the religious school for kids.

There was one area with a bunch of artwork on consignment.  Some of it was quite nice.

So nice, that I actually bought this piece...which if you know me, is a very rare occurence.

My guide Shareed at the end of my tour.

Walking back to the campground.

It was a long but good day, and I felt that I’d hit the main sites in the area.  I am ready to move on from the Hollywood of Africa and tomorrow I’ll drive east to the Dadès Gorge.