The Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou, designated a World Heritage Site since 1987, is a fortified city (or Ksar) located on the old caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in the foothills of the southern slopes of the High Atlas in the Province of Ouarzazate.
Ait-Ben-Haddou is the most famous and picturesque Ksar in the Ounila Valley and has been used for a considerable number of big-budget films including (thanks to Wikipedia):
- The Man Who Would Be King (film) (1975)
- Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
- Time Bandits (1981)
- The Jewel of the Nile (1985)
- The Living Daylights (1987)
- The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
- The Mummy (1999)
- Gladiator (2000)
- Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Also used in parts of the TV series Game of Thrones.
Below is a photo-of-a-photo(!) showing how the arena in Gladiator (2000) was constructed below the Ksar.
It’s a beautiful place, Mac! I presume it’s still an active town, with people, businesses and such. Or is it just a preserved site, a movie set if you will.?
Still very much an inhabited ksar but the numbers of folks are, I suspect, pretty much reduced to those living off the tourist trade. I had great photo sessions in 2 different dwellings, both where the lady of the house was making carpets in the very traditional way. One lady cooked us a great cous-cous lunch!! Very welcoming people.
Good to know, Mac, and I hope you’ll be kind enough to share some of those carpet-making, couscous-cooking photos with us sometime!