Madkhal Meski

Source bleue de Meski

When you drive into Madkhal Meski you don’t expect to find an oasis behind all the mud houses and dusty streets. At first you see only a narrow asphalt road and many dirt side roads. All houses are of similar construction and a drab shade of brown.

Main road through Meski

But if you follow the narrow main road for a few hundred meters, you will find the turnoff to the blue spring of Meski.

As soon as you drive down this turnoff, you are immediately in an impressive palm grove.

Access to the oasis
At the campsite of the oasis there are small stores of local merchants
The swimming pool was built during the colonial period for the soldiers of the Foreign Legion and is still popular with the locals for refreshment during the hot summer months

Old Kasbah of Meski

Also very close to the new town of Meski is the old Kasbah also called Ksar.

In the Maghreb, a ksar is a traditional rural settlement of the Berbers.

The ancient ruined city of Meski is surrounded by a closed ring of walls. This is not normally the case with such settlements in Morocco.

Some of the original 300 houses, as well as the old mosque and the 165 meter deep well can still be seen.

When it became too crowded for the inhabitants in the old town, they moved to the new town in the 1960s.

Old Kasbah of Meski
Old Kasbah of Meski
View to the Kasbah
View to the Kasbah
View of the palm grove