Telouet Kasbah
Telouet Kasbah is one of the most underrated historical sites in Morocco, it's located on the way between Marrakech and Ouarzazate right after going through the Tizi N'tishka pass between the high Atlas mountains, and only few kilometers away from the famous UNESCO world heritage site "Ait Ben Haddou".. But most visitors don't know about it because they take a different road and also because it is not as famous as the movie location Ait ben Haddou. So they miss an opportunity to see one of the most beautiful traditional architecture in the desert of Morocco.
Watch Telouet Kasbah in this video bellow
Telouet Kasbah was basically a stop for the merchant caravans coming from the Sahara to the major cities in morocco that are located on the other side of the Atlas mountains like Marrakech and Fes, caravans used to rest in Telouet in exchanged for some of what they are bringing with them, like ivory, gold, spices...
The old kasbah was built by the "Glaoui" family in the 19th century, that family became wealthy because of the caravans and also because of the salt mines nearby.. The "Glaoui" family gained even more power since they hosted the king of Morocco at the time (Hassan the 1st) with all his companians and horses when they got stuck because of a snowstorm in the mountains.. They provided shelter and food for everyone and because of that, the Glaoui family got close to the king and gained more power to the point that two members (thami and Madani) were pointed at very high positions close to the king.
Telouet kasbah was expended with time, last time was in the early 20th century, legend says that it took 300 workers who worked 3 years to decorate the walls and ceiling, mostly coming from Fes..
The "Glaoui" who was a "Pasha" (like mayor) of the area, was so much into music and dancing, he used to have all kind of local musicians and dancers who gave him shows every night, that he used to watch with his wives.. old people who still remember the glory days of telouet kasbah say that there used to be more than 1000 people living in it, the family, workers and also slaves..
Unfortunately after the independance of Morocco in 1956, and because the "Glaoui" family lost all the power it used to have, the telouet kasbah became more and more abandoned, to the point that the old buildings are collapsing little by little.. It was only in 2010 that the actual king gave permission for its restauration
We in Hyper Morocco Tours strongly encourage you to include telouet kasbah on your sahara desert tour, either you were starting from Marrakech of from Fes.. The only issue is that it may take sometimes and that could lead to a delay in your arrival time to your destination, especially during winter when day times are shorter.
You really don't wanna miss the magnificient view of Telouet village from the window of the Pasha's Palace:
*A kasbah is a big house that mostly belongs to one family, something like a castle or a fortress. always surrounded by a wall and has 4 guarding towers.
