The 4×4 bounced along the dirt road, dust trailing behind us. We’d left the buses and other tourists traveling between Marrakech and the Sahara long behind. Though just 28 miles away tourists were arriving by the busload to the famous kasbah Ait Benhaddou, they could have been a million miles away. The only other people we encountered were some children walking their baby donkey and one man who sold us the entry ticket for the Kasbah Telouet.
The Kasbah Telouet sits proudly atop a hill
Toto, I don’t think we’re on the tourist trail anymore.
It once took 52 days just to cross the Sahara. After finally making it across the desert, the trade caravan routes that connected sub-Saharan African with Marrakech then passed through the Ounila Valley dotted with kasbahs (fortresses and citadels) and mansions of the rich merchants and the pashas. The most famous of those kasbahs is Ait Benhaddou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that just about every visitor making the trip from Marrakech to the Sahara stops at.
My friend Amanda, an American married to a Moroccan and living in Marrakech, was so excited to visit Telouet. I tried Googling it when she sent me our itinerary and I couldn’t find much – or anything, really – about it. The Kasbah Telouet is on the camel caravan routes, but not many tourists visit it and most won’t have even heard of it. That’s because the Kasbah Telouet was seized by the state and left to decay after its’ ruling pasha fell from grace for being a traitor.
The former palace of a Pasha more powerful than the Sultan
The History of Morocco in 30 Seconds
It’s important to understand a little bit of Moroccan history here to really understand why this beautiful kasbah was left abandoned and to this day ignored by the King.
Morocco was a French Protectorate, established under the Treaty of Fez in 1912. The Sultan of Morocco, Mohammed Ben Youssef, (known as Mohammed V ) had begun to entertain the idea of independence from France as early as the end the WWII. Our President at the time, FDR, even encouraged the Sultan to fight for independence. In 1947, Mohammed V officially began to distance himself from the French Protectorate and support the Independence Party.
Under this French Protectorate was a feudal system of “government”, with the Sultan was at the top and he had a court led by a Grand Vizier. The next, or third level tier of the feudal system, were called pashas and they were the equivalent of dukes. The pashas were charged with keeping order and collecting taxes. They wielded quite a lot of power, many of them even keeping armies of their own.
The year was 1953. Thami El Glaoui used his power over most of southern Morocco and sided with the French to overthrow the Sultan, Mohammed V. El Glaoui had Mohammed V and his family forcibly exiled to Corsica and his uncle, Mohammed Ben Aarafa, was declared the Sultan of Morocco.
The money and work that must have went in to Kasbah Telouet is unfathomable
From Saviors to Traitors
The Glaoui family had already started the construction of the Kasbah Telouet in 1860. They really came into power when they were greatly rewarded for rescuing the then-ruling Sultan in a snow storm in 1893. Part of the reward even included a canon.
The Kasbah was serviced by slaves who lived in these quarters surrounding it
Thami El Glaoui became the Pasha of Marrakech in 1912 and, at the time, one of the wealthiest men in the world thanks to his dubious dealings in the salt, olive and saffron trade. He was known as the Lord of the Atlas and ruled over the Glaoua tribe of Berbers in Morocco.
They were known as a ruthless clan and it’s said that the severed heads of their foes were displayed for all to see on spikes on the ramparts. Locals that disappeared from their villages were thought to be held as prisoners on barely life-sustaining rations inside the fortress.
Can you imagine attending lavish parties here?
It wasn’t all just gloom and doom inside there. Not if you were the glitterati of the mid-1900s, anyway. El Glaoui may have used that canon to terrorize the south side of the Atlas Mountains, but he threw ostentatious parties where he hobnobbed with royalty, world leaders and bureaucrats. I imagine El Glaoui was something of a Great Gatsby of Morocco.
The heads and legends of savagery wouldn’t be warning enough, though. In 1955 when active opposition to the French Protectorate grew on a great scale, Mohammed Ben Aarafa fled to Tangier where he abdicated as Sultan. The French conceded and Mohammed V was returned from exile on November 16, 1955, though not before ousting Thami El Glaoui for the traitor that he was.
You can only visit about 10% of the Kasbah, but you can climb up on to the roof
The Abandonment of Kasbah Telouet
While I personally would have been of the philosophy an eye for an eye, Thami El Glaoui knelt at the feet of Mohammed V and begged for his mercy once he knew the former Sultan’s return was eminent. Mohammed V forgave him.
Pondering a different time in Morocco
Karma is a bitch though, because Thami El Glaoui died a broken man little more than two months later during his evening prayers. Perhaps he prayed for death. We’ll never know.
The Kasbah of Telouet and the other iconic Glaoui fortresses in the south of Morocco, as well as all their assets were seized by the state. The lynch mob was too late for justice, but the new King would ensure the surviving El Glaoui family would never be the source of another coup d’état.
A beautiful example of Moorish architecture
The Moroccan government is rather ambivalent about the Kasbah Telouet. On one hand, it is a superb example of Moorish architecture. On the other, unspeakable crimes of treason were carried out here. For now, any restoration work is privately funded by the El Glaoui family and from the small entry fee donation of 5-10 dirham ($0.50 – $1 USD) collected from the occasional visitor like us.
The Kasbah was never actually finished, but the amount of work and money that went in to building the opulent fortress is unfathomable. The incredible mosaics and intricate details give a glimpse into what must have been before a mob looted it and destroyed all that they could.
Luxury Glamping in the Sahara Desert
Our visit to Telouet was part of our Amazing Journeys Morocco tour in order to bring you this story. However, Luxe Adventure Traveler maintains full editorial control of the content published on this site. As always, all thoughts, opinions, and enthusiasm for travel are entirely our own.
Chrysoula says
Wow what an incredible trip you had! I would love to go there. The Kasbah Telouet looks stunning. I love this architecture
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It’s definitely a unique place and special since it’s not something everyone sees when they go to Morocco!
Anita Hendrieka says
Ah would love to come here. It’s such an interesting place. Gonna put it on my 2017 list!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Morocco will definitely be in our recommendations for where to travel in 2017!
Holly says
Such beauty and history. I would love to visit and take it all in for myself.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It’s a really unique sight most visitors miss. We definitely had a great guide for our multi-day Sahara trip!
Drew says
Wow, what an impressive trip and history lesson. Like many others, I know little about Moroccan history, so thank you for providing some much great information with those gorgeous images as a backdrop. This is what I love about traveling: there are always new places to discover that few visit, but are totally worth it.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Agreed, Drew! Guide books are great but we don’t always want to see the exact same things everyone else does. This is where doing your research and connecting with locals really pays off because they can introduce you to sights you’ve never heard about, like Telouet!
Vasu says
It is truly incredible, the trip you had. The place must have been (and still is in parts) luxurious and flaunts wealth. The mosaic on the walls are just exquisite. Thanks for the post.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
The mosaics are so beautiful! Can you imagine what this place must have looked like in its heyday? No wonder the glitterati made the trek out to no where, really, for fabulous parties.
Tara says
This is just the kind of place I would love to visit, and for just $1? That’s incredible! The place looks lonely and forgotten and stately and proud at the same time, perhaps because of its unconventional history.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Totally worth the suggested donation for entry!
Jackie Sills-Dellegrazie says
Such fascinating Moroccan history! Kasbah Telouet is a gorgeous structure with amazing architecture. Those mosaics were jaw-dropping in the photos. I can’t even imagine in person! It’s always worth it to veer off course and discover lesser known sights. You found a gem, for sure!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Finding Telouet was definitely thanks to the company we went on a private Sahara tour with, otherwise we would not have known about this place.
Natasha says
And what were your thoughts on touring Morocco in general? We had very mixed feelings about some of the harassment that we experienced in the country. You have taken lovely photos showing off the things we love about Morocco.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We loved Morocco and are anxious to return to explore more. We weren’t harassed at all during out trip to Morocco. Aside from one henna woman who grabbed my hand and did a henna tattoo, then asked for money, we didn’t have any issues. And though the henna woman was mad, we’d just arrived and didn’t even have anything to give her yet. It was her own fault for being so forceful.
Sumti Bhadani says
Wow what an incredible trip you had! I love architecture a lot and loved reading this post
Jennifer Dombrowski says
The architecture is definitely unique!
Punita says
Morocco is so fascinating! The vibrant tilework and the exotic structures are really enticing. We are planning a 2 week vacation sometime next year, but I think we will still be left with lots uncovered.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
I think you will be too, Punita. Morocco is a big country with a lot to discover. You should check out http://marocmama.com. She’s an American married to a Moroccan and lives in Marrakech. She has been just about everywhere in Morocco and has fantastic information.
Mansoureh says
what a great post. You are lucky that you had a chance to explore it. I would like to visit the camel caravan routes.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
So much interesting history there!
Gerry says
Thank you for this. We visited Telouet and the Kasbah of the Glaouis in February 2001. We were with a Moroccan guy who had shown us around Fes for three days and his friend from Erfoud who had rented a car to drive us around the country. They took us to Telouet, on our way from Merzouga to Marrakech. We stayed in a lovely private house in Telouet that they scrounged up for us. We walked through the kasbah, but they did not know very much to tell us about it.
I recently scanned our photos of Morocco and have been trying to figure out where they were taken, which led me to this page.
Our Morocco itinerary was a flight from JFK to Casablanca, where a businessman at Casa Voyaguers taught us how to pour our tea and made us promise to look him up in Marrakech. We took a train to Fes and were there for four or five days, including a taxi ride to Volubilis and Moulay Idriss. Then our guys drove us to Merzouga (with an overnight along the way at someone’s house in Errachidia with pizza for dinner) for a night there and an overnight camel ride. Then they took us to a hotel in Todra Gorge, and the next day to Telouet. We said goodbye to them in Marrakech and saw that, Casablanca, Tanger, Algeciras (Spain), and Gibralter on our own. On our last day, at the train station in Casablanca, we saw the same guy again that we had seen the first day and were in trouble for not visiting him in Marrakech.
Our guides for the first part of the trip were unofficial guides and some of our travels were sort of furtive. They made sure we knew that we were all just friends and they were not asking us for any money except for the price of the rental car. The gendarmes pulled us over somewhere near Boumalne Dades and reluctantly let us go when we told them that. We stopped at an ATM in Ouarzazate where I decided to “gift” them with 5000 dirhams. I’ll never know if they thought that was a fair exchange, they were so polite all of the time.
Dave Biggam says
It’s an historic building, visited in 2007 whilst staying 500m away in a stone built house! The legend of the Kasbah was delivered to us on a tour by one of our hosts, wow! It’s a great story (you can find online) and puts our “hard life” into context. My feet are currently planted on a rug bought at our hostel and feels great! Awesome Morocco x