Ighrem n'Ougdal
| Ighrem n'Ougdal اغرم نوكدال ⵉⵖⵔⵎ ⵏ ⵓⴳⴷⴰⵍ |
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| State : |
 Morocco
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| Region : | Drâa-Tafilalet | ||||
| Province : | Ouarzazate | ||||
| Coordinates | 31 ° 14 ′ N , 7 ° 25 ′ W | ||||
| Residents : | 14,014 (2004) | ||||
| Height : | 1800 m | ||||
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Ighrem n'Ougdal ( Arabic اغرم نوكدال, Taschelhit ⵉⵖⵔⵎ ⵏ ⵓⴳⴷⴰⵍ Iɣrem n Ugdal ) is a mainly Berber village with about 1000 inhabitants and at the same time the capital of the municipality of Ighrem n'Ougdal with about 14,500 inhabitants in the province of Ouarzazate ( Drâa-Tafilalet region ) in Morocco .
Geographical location
The village, which is widely ramified along the Assif n'Imini, is located on the southern roof of the High Atlas about 20 kilometers south of the Tizi n'Tichka pass at an altitude of about 1800 m . The center, in which the Agadir (warehouse castle) is located, is located directly on the main road N 9 from Ouarzazate to Marrakech .
Village
The new houses, built mostly from hollow blocks and with concrete ceilings, are spread over a relatively large area; old quarry stone houses are only preserved in exceptional cases and mostly belong to the poorest families in the village.
At the old homestead of the guardian family, located directly next to the Agadir, a herringbone pattern made of inclined rubble stones can be seen in the outer wall, which originally probably had a disastrous ( apotropaic ) meaning.
history
As with most Berber settlements in southern Morocco, due to the lack of written records, nothing is known about the history of the place. The approximate age of the storage castle (usually called igherm in the High Atlas ) is therefore also unclear.
Agadir
The only sight of the village is the mighty Agadir , located in the center of the village and restored with the financial help of UNESCO in the 1990s. It was originally built as a joint effort by the local families and is still owned by them today, but is rarely used.
architecture
The rectangular, two-storey building with four corner towers rests on natural rock or on a base made of rubble stones piled up by human hands, which prevents rising soil moisture and thus mold infestation. The actual structure consists of clay mixed with plant remains and small stones. Loopholes like ventilation openings as well as any building decor - v. a. on the towers - missing. The rafters of the roof were originally covered with reed mats and earth; During the restoration, plastic sheeting was used instead of the reed mats, which need to be replaced every few years.
The mighty corner towers protrude differently from the structure and each tower about 1.60 meters above the structure. In them stood step trunks made of tree or palm trunks, which made it possible to climb onto the roof, which in the event of a defense was the last possibility of retreat.
Interior
Each family in the village used to have one of the 50 or so storage chambers - grouped around an atrium and distributed over two floors - for the safe storage of long-life food supplies (grain, oil, almonds, dates, dried fruits, etc.) as well as weapons and farm implements. The chambers on the ground floor could be reached via stairs or step trunks. All chambers could be locked by wooden doors, most of which have disappeared; the doors that are visible today are mostly from the restoration phase. The wooden supports of the atrium show archaic animal head motifs as capitals . The surrounding railing is an ingredient from the restoration phase because it is not connected to the supports.
meaning
The Agadir of Ighrem n'Ougdal, which is perhaps only 150 to 200 years old, is one of the storage castles of the High Atlas, which are rare compared to the many buildings in the Anti -Atlas. The figurative-abstract carved capitals of the wooden supports have no artistic parallel.
Surroundings
A few kilometers below the Tizi n'Tichka pass, an asphalt road branches off to the east to Telouet , the headquarters of the Glaoua clan. From there and from the still very original village of Anemiter (photo → Weblink), hiking and trekking tours into the mountains of the High Atlas are possible. The road from Télouet to Ait Benhaddou was paved in 2011. In Tazlaft (also Tazleft) - about 20 km north of Ait Benhaddou - there is a similar Agadir.
