The Oued Mellah, which translates as Salt River, runs through the High Atlas from Marrakesh, providing the easiest route to the oases and valleys of the south. It was traditionally one of the principal trade routes, and came to be controlled by the Glaoui tribe.
The Kasbah of Aït Benhaddou guards the southern approaches to the Oued Mellah, and is one of the finest examples of pisé fortified village construction anywhere.
The Glaoui
The grandiose ambitions of the Glaoui were expressed best in the building of Telouet, their family kasbah at the northern entrance to the Oued Mellah.
At its height it was a huge complex of brilliantly decorated reception rooms, cavernous kitchens and slave quarters, and extensive subterranean dungeons.
With the coming of independence, the Glaoui lost their pre-eminence, a decline that has been mirrored at Telouet, where unstable walls have closed off much of the kasbah, leaving only the reception rooms as an eloquent testament to former glories.
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Places near Oued Mellah
- Ouarzazate 34 kilometers away
- Ourika Valley 53 kilometers away
- Skoura 57 kilometers away
- The Southern Oases Valleys 58 kilometers away
- The Atlas Mountains 75 kilometers away
- Marrakesh 97 kilometers away
- The Dades Valley 112 kilometers away
- Zagora 155 kilometers away
- Taroudant 183 kilometers away
- The Draa Valley 207 kilometers away
- Essaouira 254 kilometers away
- The Souss-Massa National Park 264 kilometers away
- Casablanca 276 kilometers away
- The Erg Chebbi 302 kilometers away
- The Anti Atlas 315 kilometers away
- Rabat 321 kilometers away
- Meknes & Volubilis 339 kilometers away
- Fez 382 kilometers away
- Chefchaouen 479 kilometers away