Its name comes from a Berber phrase meaning ”without noise” or ”without confusion”. Ouarzazate is also nicknamed The door of the desert, and the city is capital of Ouarzazate Province of south-central Morocko. To the south of the town is only desert.
The area is well known for its many prominent kasbahs, and nowadays a noted film-making location, with Morocco’s biggest film studios.
Many famous movies have at least some scenes shot here, such as Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Gladiator (2000) and Kingdom of Heaven (2005), as was part of the TV series Game of Thrones.
The arena in the movie Gladiator was right here in this open space, behind the people and their banner.
Ait Benhaddou was originally an old karavan station between Marrakesh and the Sahara Desert. Astonishingly beautiful, traditionally built of clay, straw and dirt.
Today, we can admire the old kasbah in the movies – only four families still live here permanently. The rest of the great kasbah is left to fall apart – but a first class tourist attraction.
Leya 
What a lovely old ruin! I admire the families who are still making a living there. 🙂
yes, I admire them as well. A historic site to live and I believe they do well with the tourists!
fascinating place! thanks for the tour! 🙂
You are welcome!
awesome place.. and i love the souvenirs especially those rugs.
Thank you, and yes, their rugs are beautiful.
What a most intriguing place, A-C – thanks for the virtual tour!
I loved it – but the heat almost knocked me out…
I’m sure!
Very interesting site!
Yes, I would have liked to walk there more…but it was simply too hot.
Härliga foton, mycket vackra 🙂 Vilken intressant plats, där kan man gå i evigheter och utforska 🙂
Man skulle ha velat gå där längre, ja…men det var verkligen som i en bakugn…och jag är inte så vansinnigt värmetålig heller. Roligt att du gillade Ait Benhaddou! Jag fick lust att se ”Gladiator” och ”Ben Hur” och alla med anknytning, för att se om jag kände igen…
Fascinating.
A great place, but a bit hot…
Thank you for the wonderful tour! 🙂
Thank you for coming along!
wonderful places to visit, great photos
Thank you so much, Julie.