Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou: A star of the big and small screen

Thanks to its striking good looks and idyllic setting, it’s little wonder the ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou has featured in a slew of films and TV shows.

Gladiator, The Jewel of the Nile, Kingdom of Heaven and Game of Thrones are among the many productions that have filmed scenes here.

Situated to the south of the High Atlas mountains on the banks of the Ouarzazate River in the Ounila Valley, the extraordinarily well-preserved ksar dates back to at least the 17th century and was once an outpost on the trading route between Marrakech and Sudan.

It’s been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its “striking example” of southern Moroccan architecture since 1987.

We wandered down to the Ouarzazate River from our hotel and crossed the river towards the ksar via a series of stepping stones made from sandbags (above).

The first part of the crossing was easy enough, but the second part was trickier as the sandbags were quite far apart, so one of my friends kindly helped me across.

Having featured in so many films and TV shows, Ait-Ben-Haddou has become one of the most popular tourist spots in Morocco.

After spending a few days in more remote parts of the country, seeing so many tourists in Ait-Ben-Haddou was a bit of a shock to the system.

The ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou is built on the slopes of a small hill in the Wadi Mellah (above) and is made up of a series of kasbahs and red mud-brick houses.

The ksar and the surrounding valley are ridiculously pretty and it’s hard to put into words just how lovely they are.

The mix of red clay buildings, and pink and white rocky terrain, alongside the blue Ouarzazate River and bursts of green vegetation, made for a spectacular scene.

We walked through the ksar to the top of the hill, passing many small shops selling wooden granary doors, artworks and the usual Moroccan trinkets.

The ksar was fascinating and I kept stopping along the way to look at something or other and take photos.

The views from the top of the hill were breathtaking and stretched for miles over the surrounding area (above).

At the top of the hill, there was a small, ruined tower (above), which had been severely damaged by the 2023 earthquake.

I walked around the ruined tower, taking it in from every angle, and then stopped to watch a small cat that was chilling in front of it (above).

After spending a fair bit of time admiring the views over the valley, we made our way back down through the ksar.

We left the ksar via a different route, this time crossing the Ouarzazate River over the footbridge (above) and headed back towards our hotel.

Along the way, we stopped in various shops – a couple of carpet shops selling lambswool rugs, an antiques shop run by a friendly older man from the Sahara and a shop selling trinkets and jewellery, where I bought a lovely gold and ebony bracelet and a silver bookmark.

I really enjoyed our time in Ait-Ben-Haddou. It’s a delightful place and I was captivated by its remarkable architecture.

The ksar has an historic, otherworldly charm and it’s easy to see why so many films and TV shows have chosen it as a filming location.