"Ait Ben Haddou" a Ait Ben Haddou Travel Page by johnsakura

Ait Ben Haddou, this top hill fortified village looks like a huge mud castle in some kind of Arabian fairy tail. It?s an amazing place to go and enjoy the fortified village on top of a hill, right on the bank of a river and the upper view from the top ruins are just something you will not forget, ever.
This fortified village is located on the way to the High Atlas and its one of the most well preserved Kasbahs of the region which gave it the title of UNESCO World Heritage. The village it self has grown a lot since the last couple of years, and I even saw that growth taking place. Lots of hotels and souvenirs shops were built on the other side of the river. You would be surprised of how many building actually were built in just 4 years. Anyway, at the other side of the river the fortified village stays intact, every time being reconstructed and having a better look as people take better care of the houses in order to preserve its historical aspect and with this get more tourist and make more money.
The village had a great reconstruction project which helped the rebuilt of some building in ruins and the age?s erosion and also aided the 5 families left living inside the Kasbahs; All this thankfully to UNESCO program.

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I went to Ait Ben Haddou first in May 2000. The village was small and the buildings were almost restricted to the original oval in walls construction over the river. Hotels have grown like mushrooms. But of if you restrict your self to the old part of the village on the hill crossing the river you're not going to be disappointed. I got back to Ait Ben Haddou in April 2002, August 2002 and again in August 2003

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This place can be seen on TV in movies like:

Jesus of Nazareth,
Lawrence of Arabia
Sodom and Gomorrah
The Gladiator with Kurt Russell