 Unspoilt natureThis damp, mild environment is ideal for growing cedrats trees. |  A magical discoveryLet's head for this opening in the Anti-Atlas! This is the Cedrats Valley ! |  Cedrat flowerPowerfully fragrant, it is also prized in perfumery, for example by Guerlain. This one was photographed in the Jardin aux Etoiles, which includes two cedrat trees. |  Cedrats ou etrogsThese citrus fruits are highly prized by Jews, who use them during the Sukkot ceremony, the Feast of Tabernacles. |  Ripe cedratsThe cedrat has a thick, rough peel and a bumpy surface. It measures between 10 and 25 centimeters in diameter. It can weigh up to two kilograms. |
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Cedrats Valley: magical discovery
The Anti-Atlas has many magnificent surprises in store, if you know how to explore it. One of the most beautiful discoveries that can be made there is the Valley of Cedrats, a magical canyon which can be accessed from Tamguinsift, douar of the wadi Assadss, one hour from our riad. You then have to walk 3 km to access the marvels... Count a day : the walk lasts about 1 hour and a half one way, because it goes up, especially in the last part, and a short hour on the way back. Plan to picnic along the way. A moment when time will suspend its flight...
At Adouar, on the expressway, take the direction of Assadss.
An imposing structure, made of rammed earth.
Your vehicle cannot go any further. You must park it near the mosque, which is clearly visible in white
A quintessential Berber locality. Berber names generally begin with the letter "t" and end with the letter "t".
The remaining water in the wadi flows down to Tamguinsift.
When the water flows into the pipe, you must carefully step over it. Along the way, you will meet some very friendly Berbers.
The Asadds is mostly dry in the lower part of its course.
The gravel is a gift from the wadi.
Palm trees stretch out in a single sweep towards the azure sky.
Rocks before reaching the cedrat trees
It's the one with the cedrats.
The environment of the cedrat trees.
From the Jardin aux Etoiles to Tamguinsift, then to the cedrats
From our riad, take the express road to Adouar. At the roundabout, take the direction of Assadss. You can leave your vehicle on the side of the road in Amagour. The track is however safe enough to continue to Tamguinsift. The walk will be shorter. It is advisable to park your vehicle in this last locality, then to start a fairly long and... magnificent walk.
It takes three kilometers in difficult terrain. Indispensable: take plenty of water with you, especially if it's hot, which is often the case! As you go up the bed of the Assadss wadi, the vegetation becomes greener. Palm trees shoot straight up into the azure sky. The walk is not always easy. Unmarked paths have been laid out halfway up the hill, on both sides of the wadi. For a first, we advise you to be accompanied by a guide. We recommend David Scholl, tel. in Morocco 06 36 85 66 46 or +49 157 810 384 53.
Photo Patrick Mayne
The paradise of cedrats is also one of lush vegetation, which benefits from constant watering.
The Berbers take extreme care to grow them in good conditions.
Those growing on the banks of the Asadss wadi are ungrafted.
Cedrat trees bear only a limited number of fruits.
Sparsely inhabited dwellings are scattered along the pipeline that supplies the cedrat trees.
They thrive and reproduce in this humid environment.
Stone structures facilitate walking comfort.
The stream water is ingeniously distributed towards the cedrat trees by a system of small sluice gates.
Fruits sometimes grow between branches.
Although they grow without giving the impression of having been planted in specific places, the cedrat trees are nevertheless protected by nets.
The eye is delighted.
The paradise where the cedrats grow
Suddenly, paradise appears: the luxuriant vegetation where the citrons grow: a sloping land watered in all seasons by the wadi, channeled in an ingenious way, so that the humidity is omnipresent. It sometimes feels like being in the Amazon! The Berbers of the place have been for centuries, and perhaps millennia, the guardians of the traditional culture of the cedrats of Asadss. Also called etrogs or אתרוג, cedrats are citrus fruits from the family of orange trees and lemons, very popular with Jews, insofar as they are used during the festival of the Huts.
If we believe in the Hebrew scholars, they are cultivated according to the criteria of tradition in a unique place: the Cedrats Valley of the Anti-Atlas. The trees there are free, that is to say not grafted. Sold at the time to the Jews of Morocco, who today are not very numerous, these fruits are therefore exported to Jewish communities around the world, particularly New York, sometimes at exorbitant prices for the most beautiful pieces.
The canyon becomes wild.
Along the way, we pass by traditional mud-brick houses that have retained their soul.
This doesn't necessarily make things easier.
Picnic under an argan tree.
This is the source of the Oued Assadss.
Photo Patrick Mayne
It is home to a wonderful natural pool.
Spectacular concretions.
Magical mountains.
A final look at the lush vegetation.
You can either take the paths laid out halfway up the slope, or the riverbed in the last part. You will then pass by colourful rocks.
Off to the Jardin aux Etoiles !
Cedrats to the origin of the source
The Assadss wadi has not delivered all its happiness. Going up the river, other surprises await walkers. The valley becomes a canyon. But suddenly a cave appears. This is where the wadi originates.
The place is absolutely beautiful and untouched. The water that wells up from the cave turns out to be as transparent as possible. It forms a swimming pool which constitutes an urgent invitation to refresh oneself there, in the form of a foot bath that could not be more natural.
The return to the starting point can be done on the other bank of the wadi, just to discover other plants, other verdant symphonies. The beginning of the descent is made by taking one of the paths. Watch where you put your foot, because the slope is steep!
For the last part, favor the bed of the wadi. However, it is necessary to go up from the Assadss to find Tamguinsift and your vehicle. The day will have been busy and will remain memorable!
Two cedrat trees are located very close to the entrance of the Jardin aux Etoiles.
Cedrats prefer to grow in the last part of the branches.
The fruit first turns green, before turning yellow.
Two cedrat trees in the Jardin aux Etoiles!
Amazing ! Two of the cedrats trees that were sold to us in nurseries in the Souss for orange trees turn out to be cedrat trees! No doubt, the branches are adorned with thorns and the fruits that grow there completely look like the cedrats found in the Assadss valley!
To top it off, our cedrat trees flower in June, while continuing to bear fruit. They are right next to our cactus corner.
The very mild climate of the Jardin aux Etoiles region is suitable for cedrat. Temperatures never drop below 8 to 10 degrees at night, at the height of the Souss winter. The latter is very fleeting, to the point that it only lasts a few days and that, in some years, we don't even see it... Finally, we let's generously water our cedrats.
The conditions therefore seem to be in place for the Jardin aux Etoiles to produce a few cedrats each year...
According to the Moroccan director Izza Genini, author of the documentary "La route du citron" of which here is an extract on the right, the cedrat is the source of all citrus fruits. It would have appeared in the Himalayas before spreading across continents and millennia. Symbol of fertility among the Buddhists, of immortality among the Greeks, it is for the Hebrews the fruit of splendor prescribed in Leviticus.
If it is cultivated in Israel today, it would have been growing for 2000 years in the hollow of the Cedrat Valley. The Berbers of Souss respect the standards required by tradition. Jewish scholars attest to its original authenticity and unbroken tradition for centuries.