Beni Isguen

Beni Isguen is the most closely held of the five ksour of the M'Zab valley, a walled town of pale cubic houses climbing to a mosque and minaret at the summit, laid out in the eleventh century by the Ibadi community and still run under its own rules: outsiders enter only with a guide from the town, photography of people is not permitted, dress is expected to be modest and the gates are shut at night. Its market square holds an afternoon auction that has run for centuries, where goods are carried through the ring of buyers by criers calling the bids. Below the town, a palm grove is irrigated by a system of channels and a flood-diversion dam.

What you actually see

• The walled cubic town - pale houses climbing to the minaret.
• The afternoon auction - criers carrying goods through the ring of buyers.
• The irrigated palm grove - the channels and flood dam below the ksar.
• A town run under its own rules - guides, gates and community law.

When to go

October to April; summer in the M'Zab is extremely hot. Half a day. The auction runs in the late afternoon. A guide is compulsory and arranged at the gate.

Honest expectations

Rules here are strict and enforced: no photography of people, modest dress, no entry without a guide, and no access at all after the gates close. Mosque interiors are closed to non-Muslims. Visitors who treat the town as a spectacle are unwelcome.

Nearby

Ghardaia is north; El Atteuf lies south-east in the same valley.