Tours from Ouarzazate

Tours from Ouarzazate.

Ouarzazate is a primary tourist destination in Morocco during the holidays, as well as a starting point for excursions into and across the Draa Valley and the desert. Aït Benhaddou (a fortified village) west of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Ouarzazate area is a noted film-making location, with Morocco’s biggest studios inviting many international companies to work here. Films such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), The Living Daylights (1987), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), The Mummy (1999), Gladiator (2000), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), Kundun (1997), Legionnaire (1998), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011) and The Wages of Fear (2024) were shot here, as was part of the TV series Game of Thrones.

Tours from Ouarzazate.

For a long time, Ouarzazate was a small crossing point for African traders on their way to northern Morocco and Europe.^[2] In the 16th century, Sheikh Abu al-‘Abaas Ahmed bin Abdellah al-Wizkiti al-Warzazi, emir of the qasba of Ouarzazate and father of Lalla Masuda, helped establish Saadi control over the Sous–Dra’a region.^[3][4]

Ouarzazate was home to a thriving Jewish community. In 1954, about 170 Jews lived in the Mellah.^[5] The “Old Synagogue”, a synagogue said to be nearly 300 years old, is located in Ouarzazate.^[6] There is also a Jewish cemetery, which is no longer in use.^[7]

During the French period, Ouarzazate expanded considerably as a garrison town, administrative centre and customs post and a church (Eglise Saint Therese) was built in 1931.^[8] It is home to the Kasbah Taourirt, which was the kasbah of the former caïd and later owned by T’hami El Glaoui. The Krupp field gun which secured Glaoui power is displayed outside the kasbah today.^{[citation needed]}

The city was part of the route of the 2006 and 2007 Dakar Rally.^{[citation needed]}

The nearby Ouarzazate solar power station, co-funded by the Arab League,^[9] was connected to the Moroccan power grid in February 2016.^[10][11]

On 1 November 2023, Ouarzazate along with Casablanca joined UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network.^[12][13]