The ramparts of Taroudant were built by the Saadian dynasty in the 16th century. They’d established the city in a strategic location between two mountain ranges from whence they could attack the invading Spanish and Portuguese armies along the Atlantic coast. Unusually for such a structure, those ancient red mud walls – some 7.5kms in length – are almost still completely intact, enwrapping a busy urban centre and boasting 130 towers, 19 bastions and 9 gates.
Known as Little Marrakesh, the city behind the walls has long served as a commercial hub for the surrounding Berber population. Imagine bustling souks and squares dotted with tiny cafes – maybe Marrakesh without the hordes of tourists and persistent touts!
It may be surrounded by picturesque fruit groves and have the Atlas mountains as a backdrop but this is no tourist town – it isn’t full of ‘must do’ sights. The main attractions are the ramparts and the souks. You can climb the walls at the main gate for the panoramic view and the selfie. You can walk the 7.5kms around the walls – if it’s too much of an effort then the caléche (horse-drawn carriage) drivers will be delighted with the business! You can wander through the medina’s two souks (which don’t have the hard sell of Marrakesh) before sipping coffee at Place Assarag…….. now how good does all that sound!
If there were any two places in the world I could travel to, Morocco and Israel would be my preferences. Thank you for the tour. ❤️☕️☕️
We’ve been lucky to visit Morocco a few times now and I’d say we’ll go back again. I was in Israel in 1981 – loved it and would love to bring himself there – we so rarely hear of anyone visiting there nowadays…
Fabulous, can’t wait to see it all again. I think I remember somebody telling us that every single town and village given its name by Berbers, has a name which both starts and ends in “T”. If that’s correct then I don’t know how they didn’t run out of names!
There may be something in that because we were in several of them – none of them exactly rolling off the tongue! We had to chant them in a list – Tafraoute – Taroudant – Taghazout – etc to try and remember them!!😅 😂 🤣
These are such beautiful photos, Marie 🙂 I think that the best thing about Taroudant is its location in the fertile Souss valley and at the foothills of the Anti Atlas mountains, which are teaming with Berber culture including ancient granaries, ages old Koranic schools and lush green agricultural terraces. Given how much there is to see, do and experience, it’s amazing how Taroudant doesn’t get a lot of love on the typical Moroccan tourist circuit. Thanks for sharing and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx
It just shows how much the country as a whole has to offer when towns and areas like this are bypassed by the tourist trade. Hope all going well with you Aiva….
‘Marrakesh without the hordes of tourists and persistent touts’ – that sounds pretty close to perfect to me 😀
Yes although we were wondering on the way home if we should visit Marrakesh again for a few days .. we were there once – 2014. Think we’d have to psyche ourselves up for that one!!
Oh all those pots of spices make me happy. Lovely photos and great to get away from the crowds 🙂
I love spice markets – those huge mounds of colour – quite the contrast with the little jars I buy in Tesco!!!!
I had the chance to stop in Taroudant for the night during a roadtrip in the South of Morocco, I didn’t have much time to visit but it’s true that the city seemed very quiet compared to Marrakesh.
We arrived around lunchtime so had time to look around but it was too hot to walk the walls. We were leaving after breakfast so didn’t have time then (although if we were any use we could have risen a bit earlier I suppose!!) We’d a nice place to stay ( which I must write about soon) so could easily see ourselves back there sometime for maybe a 2 night stay…
What a nice overview! Thank you for sharing Taroudant and your lovely photos!
And thank you – glad you enjoyed…🥰 😘