Dades Valley Kasbahs

The Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs -- the Dades Valley stretching from Ouarzazate to Merzouga -- is lined with centuries-old fortified mud-brick towers and palaces built by Berber clans to control the caravan routes from sub-Saharan Africa to the Mediterranean. The rose-red kasbah of Ait Ben Haddou, the most photographed in Morocco, has been used as a filming location for over 20 major film productions since 1962, which is 40% more than any other kasbah in the region, and the pise (rammed earth) construction technique used in these buildings is being studied by architects as a sustainable building method, outperforming modern concrete in energy efficiency by 30%.