Ait Kin: The Agadir

Moumoud wanted to show us more graffiti near Akka but we said we said we would prefer to see an agadir. He took us to Ait Kin which was a long if spectacular journey but the agadir was a stonker.
Ait kin is near Tagmoute half way between Igherm and Tata on the lesser more easterly of the two roads joining them. It is a small hamlet but the villagers have restored their agadir as a tourist attraction with funds from the Obama government. How successful this is as a commercial enterprise is difficult to say as our arrival caused quite a stir and there were no signs of regular tourist provision such as a cafe,hanut or coffee shop.
Agadirs are fortified granaries. Those in the anti-atlas are built in a particular style usually at the centre of a fortified village. Ait Kin is not fully fortified but it does have a defensive gatehouse at its entrance.

From here you pass into the village through a confusing series of low roofed passageways

with dogleg bends which would be highly defensible until you come to the central square with the agadir on one side and the mosque opposite.

There is a defensive tower at the point where you enter the square

The only entrance to the agadir is from the square through a pair of formidable doors.

Inside is a courtyard  with numerous small rooms built into the walls where the grain would be stored.

All are above ground level and accessible only by ladders, traditionally made from palm trunks

.The guardian showed us the original records of the agadir, some on parchment

 and others inscribed into wood

The agadir is mentioned in a document of 1709.so it is either late 17C or early 18C. Thankfully for me it is an a less defensive position than many in the anti-atlas so we did not have to climb a peak to get to it but could drive straight up to the Imi n'Wasqif gate and then it was on the flat. The gatehouse is unusual but many agadirs are in very inaccessible sites.