{"id":2159,"date":"2025-04-14T01:43:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T23:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/darrana.ma\/the-ait-inzal-plateau\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T01:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T23:43:20","slug":"the-ait-inzal-plateau","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/darrana.ma\/en\/the-ait-inzal-plateau\/","title":{"rendered":"The A\u00eft Inzal plateau"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the eastern side of the Yagour, which descends towards the Zat, a cluster of villages has settled on a large plateau at medium altitude, ideal for farming. These tightly packed villages, where many old stone houses remain, with ash trees cultivated along the banks of the stream and dating back several centuries, bear witness to an ancient tradition that modernity has barely disturbed.<\/p>\n

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From Taghlayt, a general view of the A\u00eft Inzal plateau in autumn.<\/p>\n

When crossing the Wadi Zat from Tighdouine to reach the springs of Sidi El Ouafi, one takes a relatively recent road which, ten kilometres further on, leads to the A\u00eft Inzal plateau. It is a fairly densely populated high plateau, with many villages built to take advantage of the terrain, which is suitable for agriculture, and the abundant water resources at this altitude.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the irrigation network they have built over the centuries, the A\u00eft Inzal cultivate cereals and some vegetables for their own consumption. There is little arboriculture and few walnut trees, except for a few recently planted trees. On the other hand, along the streams and canals that descend from the plateau, there is an abundance of trees, mostly narrow-leaved ash trees (Fraxinus angustifolia – Asseln in Berber), a tree that has the advantage of being very resistant to cold and producing both very hard wood for construction and quality fodder for animals in autumn.<\/p>\n

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Narrow-leaved ash trees provide high-quality foliage in autumn. Although this pruning disfigures the trees, it does not weaken them. They are exploited in this way throughout the mountains of Morocco, where they are found in abundance along watercourses.
\nBefore the arrival of cement, narrow-leaved ash trees, whose wood is very hard, provided the inhabitants with beams for their roofs.
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The old trees found in the stream that flows down from the village of A\u00eft Aacha still bear the scars of large branches and poles that were cut to make ceiling beams. All the ash trees are heavily pruned to feed the animals.<\/p>\n

The cutting of large branches has ceased since the arrival of cement, which allows for the construction of long-span beams, something that was not possible with the tree resources they had.<\/p>\n

This is a boon for housing, but much less so for the preservation of this remarkable red stone architecture, which the inhabitants no longer want despite its remarkable beauty. Cement has made its way into the villages, gradually eroding traditional housing and causing these villages to irretrievably lose their unique character. But for these inhabitants, nothing is stronger than the ardent desire to embrace the modernity that their isolation had kept at bay.<\/p>\n

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The village of A\u00eft Aacha overlooks fields that are very green in autumn, thanks to irrigation from spring water carried by canals.<\/em><\/h6>\n

The A\u00eft Inzal plateau, once very isolated, is relatively densely populated and comprises a cluster of twelve villages: A\u00eft Warhayn, Igoodmane, Assamran, Ihnash, A\u00eft Aasha, A\u00eft Oottoo, Taghallayt, Matoos, Lahlawt, A\u00eft Wiyrri, A\u00eft Ali and Ihrr\u00e2yn. Each of these villages was built on a water catchment area fed by the Yagour. They also have grazing rights on the Yagour plateau and its foothills. Each village has its own Azib. The village of Ihrayn, for example, has the beautiful Zgigi Azib, located on the Meltsen alluvial fan overlooking the Yagour plateau.<\/p>\n

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