Ba Ba Hallou, Hasi Hallou, „Lost city“

 

In the world are a few "lost cities" and one of them is in Morocco, in the desert. When I first read that in the desert it is a Portuguese fortress, I could not believe it and thought in the desert and the Portuguese? What would they do in the desert, moreover to build the fortress, when they are sailors and builds fortress only on the coast.

After searching of more information and coordination so I found that between Erg Chebbi and Erg Chigaga is really this fortress, built during the reign of Sebastião I of Portugal, probably around year 1562 and known as "A Cidade Perdida" "Lost City", or as Ba Ba Hallou and even Hasi Hallou. Many names it have.

We started in Taouz and went right towards a small hill Ouawfilalt, the road crossed the river without water of course and through very small, low sand dunes. It was flat there only and we approached Ouawfilalt where there were many camels grazing.

 

Then we came to Tadaout, a rocky mountain range where there are old paintings carved on stones. The mountain range was on our right side. It was wonderfully there, a plateau between two mountain ranges.

Then we came to the first salt lake, which was leftovers or the bottom of the ocean before. So big as it just glistened in our eyes.

We went through a small village Ouzina maybe. We had still about 22 km left to Ramlia as I saw on the sign on the road that led into an auberge there. But we never have gone through Ramlia, we had it from afar only.
Until now it was only sandy road, now changed it to an admittedly sandy but also a little harder stony surfaces. We approached Tijakht, mineral mines that appeared there in the mountain on our right side.

Then we drove along oasis Bourika, a wonderful place.

Suddenly piste just became rocky and gravel hamada who went over to the small dunes again. We saw one small camp there, with just a tent and toilet, the toilet was funny, like a tower it was. But it was empty there, just one camel outside. Maybe it was some inside the tent there, it was shade where they hid from the sun.

And suddenly it came, first one hill, and close in front of it was this fortress or ruins out of it. Wonderful to see it, what I was waiting all the time had appeared now. We parked the car and climbed up on the hill and became overwhelmed out of view from up there, as far as one could see, incredible, like moon landscape.

I understood that Portuguese had found a perfect place to monitor the entire area and nothing could escape them. On one side was the mountain range beyond, on the other side the river M'birika, so they were protected from all directions.

The fortress was quite large and there were certainly many rooms there before. Several towers around there as well. It was bound up out of flat stones and it must have been a huge job to build all this.
It was a little difficult to take pictures of the place, not so many pictures to show, my camera is quite simple.

Wonderful desert around with a smaller or larger sand dunes, mountains, rivers without water (at least at a time when I was there). Around grazing camel (but unfortunately not wild of course), goats, sheep, several smaller oases, of salty dried-up lakes, a remnant of the ocean, with the surface incredibly white. Mountains are rich in minerals and fossils, and there are remnants of old paintings engraved in the rocks.

After admiring both the fortress and the view I went down and we continued our journey now to look for any auberge where we could eat a little because we got to be hungry.

Trail went through the salt lakes again, narrow sand dunes and oases, Hamada, saw a camel caravan on the way somewhere, without tourists, just alone, does not even have a way camel man or he was hidden somewhere in the shadow because it was really hot.

Then we went to Ramlia, a small village there and continued to look for any auberge. Some were there but closed. Finally we found one, the owner and his son have just eaten so they have invited us to eat what was still there so it was really fun to sit there with them in the kitchen (bigger and finer than I have at home haha) and eat.

Driver was tired so he dozed a little. After to wake up he had going and prayed and then we continued our journey back. The car began to boil so we had to stay time to time on the road and the driver got to cool down the engine with water. And I was looking at donkeys, they are so fine animals.

We continued then through Ouzina and approached us Taouz where we came now from the other side so we really did a semicircle through the desert, it could be about 100 km. So we have gone from Taouz on the right side over qued Merhermine to the fort and back on other side via Remlia, Ouzina and came to Taouz.

It was one wonderful trip and I hope I can do it one or more times and go the whole way there until Erg Chigaga, but when, it is one other question of course.

The sumptuous, mythical Sijilmassa and Rissani now.

Rissani, a small oasis town in Morocco, lies near the northwest edge of the Sahara, the last major city of about 40km west of Erg Chebbi. Rissani itself is very interesting, the ancient capital of a sumptuous and mythical Sijilmassa. From 8 to 14 century it was a separate kingdom, known as Sijilmassa, prosperous of the caravan routes. With its important caravan centre and religious, the city acquired the eighth century unprecedented prosperity during the four centuries following. Splendor by trans-Saharan trade shone over much of West Africa.

Founded around 757 AD by the Berber Zénètes a large nomadic tribes in the reign of Pepin the Short, king of the Franks, Sijilmassa, the oldest cities in the south, founded as the capital of a movement both religious and political: the Kharijites, the third branch of Islam in this land, after Sunnism and Shiism.

The kharijism is divided in turn into various communities and trends. Rather austere, this movement was born of the break between Shiites and Sunnis. They were both against the principle which means that the Shiite leaders of Islam are only in the Prophet's family, and against the Sunnis, which they considered decadent and corrupt. They refused superfluous luxury, their leaders were chosen for their virtues, submitting to a life ascétisée.

Paradoxically, Sijilmassa quickly become an important crossing point for Saharan caravans. It rubbed the trade of gold, ivory, salt, handicrafts and also, although unfortunately even slaves. In parallel, the Ziz wadi flowing through there, watered Ziz Valley and bring agricultural to wealth.

With trade came opulent opening on other countries, economic and therefore political, which made the city open to all desires or controversy. The various sultans of the provinces of the Kingdom of Morocco tried to kill either his power or to conquer. Sijilmassa flourished until the twelfth century and was an obvious decline until its destruction in 1818 by the Almoravids. 

Of the medieval city are now only a few ruins, at the entrance to Rissani on the left side.

In the center is Ksar Abouaam, in English "The father of the year" which is just Moulay Ali Cherif who taught religion every third year there. There is now a museum and Moulay Ali Cherif maousoleum.

But in Rissani is also very nice interesting kasbah,  just in the center.

From the Kasbah I continued up to the very interesting genuine market - souk, which is to left and interesting in that it is not tourist souk, but for locals living there. 3 times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday) is the market with also donkeys, sheep, goat, cow also I had seen there too. There meets wandering traders, nomads, Berbers and Arabic desert dwellers who come to sell all kinds of clothing, wares, plants, spices and vegetables, and animals. There sells also wild plants the people gather and use as medicine.

There is also a tourist route, besides about 5 thousand date palms, passing through and around hundreds of smaller Kasbah, it take about an hour to drive.

About 4 km on the north east of Rissani is situated Ksar el Fida: the most important and at same time the most ancient of the Alaouite ksars in the Tafilalet however. But there I was not yet, it is waiting for me ☺

Its worth mentioning that the genesis of the ksar dates back to the reign of king Moulay Ismail to house his son king Moulay Abdellah, but the ksar was reduced to rubbles and ruined except for the high outside walls and the towers which were built of muddy earth. The ksar was rebuilt under the reign of Moulay Abd al Rahman, but this time at about eight hundred metters at south east of the first site. Ever since the ksar had preponderant roles in directing the policy of region and at times its served as residential palace of the Khalifa or Caid of the Tafilalet and this up to 1965. Henceforth the ksar was a Makhzanean domain and is still an architectural patrimony.