Aït-Benhaddou is a Moroccan ksar, or fortified village, in the Ounila Valley, in the province of Ouarzazate. Since 1987 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Directors from all over the world come here to make their films :
Sodom and Gomorrah (1962), The Mummy (1999) and Gladiator (2000) were filmed in Aït-Benhaddou. More recently the walls of the ksar have featured in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and also in the successful TV series Games of Thrones.
Partly because of its position at the foot of the Atlas Mountains and its proximity to the Atlas Corporation’s studios in Ouarzazate, but mainly because of its total authenticity, the fortress is an ideal filming location.
Several of its former inhabitants have stories to tell about these films. For example Hammadi, 61, has been an extra in many of them and keeps track of each one on the walls of the house he used to live in.
Following the example of Northern Ireland and Malta, both of which have made a conscious effort to attract hundreds of tourists to the locations used in Game of Thrones, a group of people in Aït-Benhaddou are getting organized to publicise this village’s recent past. With other young helpers Ahmed Baabouz, a 29-year-old tourist guide, is creating a museum of photographs and other images relating to the productions which have used the ksar’s houses and narrow streets as a backdrop.
Sources :
https://aawsat.com
https://www.geo.fr
https://www.hashtagvoyage.fr
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