The Route of the Thousand Kasbahs
The road of the thousand Kasbahs in Morocco is a long route in the south of the country dotted with hundreds of kasbahs, the ancient fortified Berber castles, that retraces the route marked by the caravans that from Morocco went to Sudan and Mali; it starts from Marrakesh and passes through Ouarzazate to Zagora or to the village of M'Hamid, the last oasis before the infinite expanse of sand and dunes of the Sahara. Kasbah is a word that comes from the Arabic qasaba which means citadel. In southern Morocco the kasbahs are usually castles belonging to a single family and mostly located in the High Atlas, in the oasis and along the Draa, Dades and Ziz rivers. They were built starting from the 17th century, although some of them are no more than 100 years old. All are built with the "pisé" technique (straw and small pebbles cemented with mud) or in raw earth and decorated with Berber motifs. The route of the Thousand Kasbahs, Morocco Kasbah, Morocco Foll...