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. The ksar here dates from the seventeenth century, and the kasbah itself was built at the end of the nineteenth for the Nasiri family of religious scholars, who still own it, 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.

History

The site began in the 17th century as a fortified village guarding the river and the entrance to the Skoura palm grove. Towards the end of the 19th century Madani El Glaoui chose the scholar M'hamed Ben Brahim Nasiri to teach his sons the Qur'an and in return had his craftsmen build Nasiri a fortified house here, the present kasbah; it appeared in Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 and still belongs to the Nasiri family (Wikipedia, Kasbah Amridil).

Highlights

• 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.

What to expect

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.

Key facts