Kasbah Amridil

Kasbah Amridil is a historic fortified residence or kasbah (tighremt in Amazigh) in the oasis of Skoura, in Morocco. It is considered among the most impressive kasbahs of its kind in Morocco and was formerly featured on the Moroccan 50 dirham note.

The kasbah was originally founded in the 17th century. It initially consisted of a fortified village, a ksar, occupying a strategic location along the river and at the entrance to the Skoura palmeraie. Towards the end of the 19th century M'hamed Ben Brahim Nasiri, a faqih from a local privileged family living in the ksar (descendants of the family associated with the prestigious Zawiya Nasiriyya in Tamegroute), was chosen by Madani El Glaoui (older brother of Thami el Glaoui) to educate his sons in reading the Qur'an. As compensation, El Glaoui commissioned his craftsmen to build Nasiri a tighremt (fortified mansion) at the ksar.

Today the kasbah is the most prominent structure and takes up the long southern part of the complex, while the ruined ksar (the former village) occupies the northern section. The kasbah made an appearance in the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia. It is still owned and maintained by the Nasiri family to this day. The family continues to live in one part of the kasbah while other parts have been restored to serve as a museum showcasing the traditional architecture of the building and local traditional artifacts, including tools, an olive press, a bread oven, and an old well.

The building follows some of the typical design elements of oasis architecture in the predominantly Berber regions of southern Morocco: it is made from rammed earth or mudbrick and has square corner towers with geometric decoration. The original ksar (village) corresponded to the walled enclosure still occupying the northern section of the site, but it is ruined today. The Kasbah itself (or tighremt), a large late 19th-century mansion for the Nasiri family and (historically) their servants, occupies the rest of the site, stretching towards the south along the river. Although it has various courtyards and elements, the most imposing structure is the main house, an almost square building with four corner towers (though a fifth tower has since been added on the south side of the structure).

Text adapted from “Kasbah Amridil” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kasbah Amridil ranks #5,413 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #23 of the 37 mapped in Morocco. Founded c. 1650, it is older than 26% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 626 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. See how Morocco compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗