Morocco’s Ouarzazate: Hidden Gem of Cinema and Kasbahs Praised by French Media

"Four reasons to visit Ouarzazate". This is the title of the article that Le Figaro devoted to this city in Morocco. "In Ouarzazate, life flows gently and winter is the best season to explore this region teeming with beautiful mud brick kasbahs, backed by oases," the newspaper writes.

The publication states that Ouarzazate is an authentic city, a major center of cinema, with its studios where Hollywood blockbusters and French comedies are filmed. Similarly, "you can easily come across actors and directors in this beautiful city they call ’Ouarzawood’". Since 1983, the Atlas studios have to their credit many box office hits like The Mummy, Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, Gladiator, as well as series like Prison Break or Game of Thrones.

The Kasbah of Taourirt and its old medina, located in the city center of Ouarzazate, are also charming. There, the visitor can admire its decorated stucco walls or "this ingenious ventilation system to ’air-condition’ the dwelling: simple openings in the ground that allow fresh air to enter and drive out the hot air... Effective and eco-friendly before its time!"

Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this kasbah is surrounded by the alleys of an ancient fortified village (a ksar). Any visitor can stroll there before going shopping in the souks, right in front, according to Le Figaro. For the French newspaper, in Ouarzazate, "everything is well organized, clean and concentrated in one city block, and the merchants are lined up in pretty shops".