The Garden OF STARS
Riad between Agadir and Taroudant, in southern Morocco
Holiday rental with a resident of Swiss nationality
Tiznit: city with walls and a rehabilitated heart
Like its neighbor Agadir, a hundred kilometers away, Tiznit is 90% Berber-speaking. This city of 80,000 inhabitants (see our video below) stands out in the eyes of the visitor with its line of ramparts 7 km long and 8 m high, flanked by 56 towers and pierced by five historic gates. Tiznit is worth stopping for as much for the silver jewelery that made it famous as for the new heart of the medina, which has been magnificently rehabilitated.
We get there in an hour and forty. An excellent express road leads there. Beware, however, of the pedestrian crossings and the lying gendarmes which strangely dot this artery, which is nevertheless essentially authorized at 100 km/h.
Whilethe walls of Taroudant, the most beautiful in Morocco, are powerful and multi-secular, those surrounding the medina of Tiznit are less massive. They were built in 1883 under Sultan Hassan 1st, ancestor of King Mohammed VI who had just subjugated Tiznit.
A magnificent rehabilitation
According to legend, a woman named Lalla Zninia, who had to forgive herself for her faults, was at the origin of La Source bleue, an oasis around which Tiznit was created. A few years ago, population growth turned this source into an open dump. Total change today: a magnificent rehabilitation carried out under the aegis of the Franco-Moroccan architect-anthropologist Salima Naji allowed the inhabitants, particularly women and children, as well as visitors to reclaim these emblematic places.
As shownour second video above, the water cascades in a semicircle made of stone walls. The show is especially impressive at night. A small garden contributes to making the new Source Bleue a place for walks and encounters. Trilingual explanatory panels have been installed.
Funded by national and local public authorities, the rehabilitation program also includes a space dedicated to culture. Closed, the former civil prison made it possible to restore the enclosure ofKasbah Aghenaj, citadel built in 1810. An open-air theater was created. It also serves as a place of debate.The program also includes a museum, which promises to be modern and educational, an archive center and "La Maison de pays", intended to sell local products and organize shows there.
L'architecte-anthropologue à qui l'on doit la remarquable réhabilitation du coeur de la médina de Tiznit.
Le coeur de la médina a retrouvé son éclat
Le plan de revitalisation en détail
Le coeur de Tiznit réhabilité
Un aménagement au service de l'homme
Elle prend alors toute sa dimension
Il a été complètement restauré
Un théâtre est apparu
Toute l'empreinte de l'Afrique
Priorité au pisé !
Porte monumentale en pierre, selon la technique de l'Anti-Atlas
En trois langues : arabe, berbère et français.
Ancient construction methods
Common point of the works carried out in the center of the medina: the old construction processes, including pisé, or raw earth, as well as lime, from which we obtain the silky tadelakt, have been revisited and given pride of place.A 360 degree photo published on YouTube shows the work carried out to fit out the town's archives processing centre. The monumental gate built in the meantime was an opportunity to use the characteristic stone technique of the Anti-Atlas, which can also be seen brilliantly applied tothe Medina of Coco Polizzi in Agadir.
Salima Naji, however, had to resolve to use concrete since the Moroccan town planning code requires it in all structures welcoming the public. However, she associated it with a minimum. The architect-anthropologist does not understand why so much credit is given to this material which, she says, "has no value, neither historical, nor climatic, nor aesthetic and which is expensive! It's cold in winter, hot in summer". Let's listen to it!
It is also the ecological conviction of the creator of the Garden of Stars. This is why our riad was built in adobe bricks made on site, framed by concrete pillars. Similarly, all the walls are in artisanal tadelakt.
Elle aussi a retrouvé sa jeunesse
Un chef-d'oeuvre
Taillées dans la muraille de l'ancienne Citadelle
Before continuing on your way
Interested in the silver jewelry that Tiznit is famous for? Shops can be found on the main square of the medina, known as the Mechouar. There is also one, the choice of which is rich, near the Blue Source.
From the center of Tiznit, two possibilities are offered to the motorist who wants to continue by the south: either go through Aglou, which represents a small detour but offers the traveler magnificent landscapes, or take the more direct road which connects Tiznit to Mirleft and borrows inland.
Good deal
An original table in the medina of Tiznit
Une cour sympathique
Avec beaucoup de goûts
The most original address to eat in Tiznit: A l'Ombre du figuier, a small authentic restaurant that manages to offer revisited and quality Moroccan cuisine. No alcohol. Boss with an eye and friendly staff.
This friendly table, which also serves as a meeting place for the trendy youth of Tiznit, is located in the medina, between the Place du Mechouar and the Source bleue, 22, passageAkchouch Idzakri.She is not easy to find. Ask for the way, we will gladly explain it to you.
It's safe to book :
+212 5 288 61 204 or lombredufiguier@gmail.com