Kasbah Amridil

Amridil is the most photographed kasbah in the Skoura oasis and was for years the image on the fifty-dirham banknote, which is the first thing local guides tell you. It was built in the seventeenth century for a family of religious notables and has stayed in the same family since, part of it lived in and part opened as a museum - and the museum is the good bit, because rather than empty restored rooms it keeps the working equipment: an olive press with its stone and beam, a mill, a locking system of wooden pin tumblers on the doors, water-lifting gear, cooking vessels, and the granary. The towers are decorated with the geometric relief that these buildings use in place of ornament, and the whole thing is packed earth reinforced with palm timber. It stands among the palms with irrigation channels round it and can be reached on foot from the road.

What you actually see

• The banknote kasbah - the building that was on the fifty-dirham note.
• A working olive press - stone and beam still in place, with the mill beside it.
• Wooden pin locks - the tumbler system on the original doors.
• Packed earth and palm timber - the construction visible where it is worn.

When to go

October to April. An hour, walking in through the palms.

Honest expectations

Entry is charged and guides at the door expect payment separately. It is small and the visit is short. Parts are family living space and closed. Summer heat in the oasis is severe.

Nearby

The Skoura palm grove surrounds it; Ouarzazate is west.