Ouarzazate and Aït-ben-Haddou

All around Ouarzazate, you can visit numerous kasbahs and fortified villages, each more cinematic than the last (and which are often used as film sets).

This is the case of the Ksar of Aït-Benhaddou, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This fortified village built on a rocky spur is magical in the late afternoon when the setting sun illuminates it. Its houses and fortifications reflected in the river below appear like a mirage in the desert.
The village appears as a group of earthen buildings surrounded by walls, the ksar, which is a type of traditional pre-Saharan habitat. The houses are grouped together inside its defensive walls reinforced by corner towers. Some of these dwellings appear to be small castles with their high towers decorated with motifs in mud brick. The oldest buildings date from the 17th century. The site would have been a trading post on the trade route that linked Saharan Africa to Marrakech. A fondouk (caravanserai) can still be seen there.
Many films have been shot here, including Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven, and more recently Game of Thrones.

Another site to visit is the Kasbah of Amridil, on the right bank of the Oued El Hajaj. Nestled in a natural palm grove classified by Unesco, it is a marvel of Berber architecture.

Ouarzazate has become a very popular filming location for directors of peplums with its Atlas Corporation studios where many Hollywood blockbusters are shot, and a film museum (worth visiting) where relics of sets and costumes are on display.
In addition to the landscapes, one of the cinematographic assets of this high place is the quality of the light.

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