On our way to Essaouira from Ouarzazate, we took a detour on P1506 to see Telouet Kasbah, but passing Ait Benhaddou (a United Nations Word Heritage site which regrettably we did not stop to explore).
To accompany your reading, highly recommended is Stephen Micus’s quiet contemplative Nomad Songs published by ECM.
We arrived at Telouet just before noon and there were hardly any people inside the kasbah. Behind where we parked our SUV (photo above) is the foundook, a place where in the old days, camels from passing caravan were kept (like cars in a garage).
The kasbah was built in 1860 by the feudal warlord family of El Glaoui in the Moorish style. It lies at an elevation of 1,800 metres (5,900 ft), occupying a strategic position in the High Atlas, and visited by the caravan traffic between Marrakech and the Sahara.
A local guide walked through the kasbah with us. Only a few rooms in the kasbah can be visited because part of the kasbah is collapsing due to neglect.
It is surprising to find such a degree of luxury out here, being quite far from Marrakech and Ouarzazate. The guide said 300 workers worked for three years to decorate the ceilings and walls. The interiors are decorated with stucco, zelliges for the walls, and cedar painting for the ceiling.
The El Glaoui family made its fortune initially by trading almond, saffron and olives, and collecting taxes from the passing caravans.
In addition to being strategically and logistically well-situated, Telouet was located near major salt mines. Over time, the family became very wealthy and enjoyed close ties to the Sultan.
In 1893, Sultan Moulay Hassan were caught in a blizzard while crossing the High Atlas mountains. The El Glaoui family rescued the party, and received as rewards from the Sultan, feudal lord titles (qaids) in several areas and a cannon to fight rival warlords.
Thami El Glaoui, presided over Kasbah Telouet from 1912 to 1956, as the Pasha of Marrakech. His influence and wealth grew with interests in agriculture and mineral resources as well as levies on commercial transactions within his domain. Apparently, he attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as a private guest of Winston Churchill.
However, El Glaoui became an ally to the French protectorate and conspired to exile the then Sultan Mohammed V to Madagascar in 1953.
In 1955, Mohammed V returned from exile and declared independence for Morocco. El Glaoui was declared a traitor and lost all of his properties and political leverage. Kasbah Telouet has been left to crumble ever since.
A room of the kasbah, its wall collapsed is being used for holding sheep.
What a difference between the inside and the outside, the privileged and the underclass, the recent past and the present.
Fame and fortune come and go. We hope someone will do something to preserve at least a part of this kasbah.
Let’s see if history can live on in this corner of North Africa.