Ksar Tissergate

Tissergate is a large ksar of the seventeenth century a few kilometres north of Zagora, and unlike most of the Draa's fortified villages it is still substantially inhabited rather than abandoned - which changes what walking through it is: the lanes are roofed for long stretches to keep them cool, doors are in use, children are about, and the structure is being maintained because people live in it. Inside, a family has set up the Musée des Arts et Traditions de la Vallée du Draa across several rooms of one house: agricultural tools, weaving, jewellery, Quranic school equipment, domestic objects, a reconstructed kitchen and a room on the valley's Jewish community. It is not a professional museum and it is more informative than several that are. The palmeraie surrounds the ksar and the Draa is behind it.

What you actually see

• A lived-in ksar - roofed lanes and maintained walls because people still occupy it.
• A family museum - tools, weaving, jewellery and domestic objects across several rooms.
• The Jewish valley - a room on the Draa communities that left in the last century.
• Covered cool lanes - the passages roofed against the heat.

When to go

October to April. An hour or two.

Honest expectations

It is a village, not an attraction - residents live in the lanes and privacy matters. The museum is amateur in presentation. Entry is charged and a guide is expected. Summer heat is extreme.

Nearby

Zagora and Jebel Zagora are south; Agdz is north up the valley.