Ait Behaddou & Atlas Studios.

Ait Behaddou

Truth be told, there isn’t much to see or do at Ait Benhaddou, but I went anyway. The old city sits on a hill high above the neighboring river valley. Palm trees, following the arc of the river, grow along the foot of the hill, providing an unusual dose of green in this arid, brown land. Ait Benhaddou is nestled in these surroundings—tall, mud-brick walls rising sharply up the hill, culminating with a picturesque granary at the summit. 

I was a great place to wander around, even if for only a couple hours.

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the location of several films (most notably Gladiator), the place attracts a fair number of tourists, but not so many as to make it unpleasant.
Neighboring Ouarzazate hosts Atlas Studios (Ben Hur, etc.) and CLA Studios (Kingdom of Heaven, Game of Thrones). It was also a filming location for Lawrence of Arabia.


Ait Behaddou

I visited Atlas Studios, allured by the idea of seeing where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed: Sadly, there was nothing left of the old set, but walking through the crumbing ruins of old film sets, I was able to observe something of the small, plaster recreations used to create the massive and beautiful palaces and cities that litter our movies. Strange, so little can be manipulated by a camera to create massive cities and palaces…

Ben Hur's Hur's from the movie Ben Hur

PS—the song lyrics have only a tenuous connection to anything, but I like the song and this place is dry and parched. I’m pretty sure I drank at least four liters yesterday, but still felt thirsty most of the day.

Additional Photos