Ancient Kasbah Desert Village

Amber and burnt orange wash across every surface as the ancient kasbah of Aït Benhaddou catches the full warmth of a late-morning sun. The view looks up from the base of the ksar, where the labyrinth of tiered towers and crenellated walls climbs the hillside in a cascade of warm stone, their angular forms stacking one above the next until they meet a sweep of bare, sun-bleached ridgeline and a sky of brilliant cobalt. Tall palms and deep green clusters of vegetation press in at the lower edges, their cool tones a striking contrast to all that glowing terracotta. Small figures in robes of deep blue and rust move through the open square below, giving the vast fortress a human scale.