A city below the mountains.

Beni Mellal, the capital of the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region, lies at about 620 metres at the foot of Jbel Tassemit, where the Middle Atlas meets the plain. The modern town grew around a kasbah founded in 1688 by the Alaouite sultan Moulay Ismail.

A city guide can give context without turning a neighbourhood into a backdrop. Notice how water is led from a spring into channels, how a fortress watches over a plain, or how gardens are laid out in terraces. Respect homes, working businesses and places of worship.

• Wikipedia on Beni Mellal↗

Across the region, the ighrem, a fortified village or collective granary built in earth and stone, sits beside old medinas, and weaving, costume and jewellery carry their own traditions. The heritage centre brings these together in one place.

Begin with a material and ask how it was made, repaired and maintained. A photograph alone cannot tell you who built a granary or wove a carpet, or the conditions in which they worked.

Ain Asserdoun shows how water shaped Beni Mellal: a spring from the Middle Atlas, led through channels and cascades into terraced gardens, with a fortress on the hill above.

Look at the meeting of the two: water led off in working channels, and a garden that turns it into a place to walk.

Pair this city reading with the centre’s history and the Journal. This is an introduction for visitors, not a claim that our team manages these places, commissions their restoration or represents their makers.

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