Ksar

Ksar Aït Benhaddou, Morocco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987

Ksar or qsar (Maghrebi Arabic: قصر qṣer or ڭصر gser, plural qṣur; Berber: ⵉⴴⵔⵎ aghrem or ighrem, plural: igherman), plural ksars, qsars, ksour or qsour, is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers (Amazigh people).

Related terms

The origin of the Maghrebi Arabic term qsar is qaṣar (قَصَر) in Standard Arabic, which means "castle" or "palace". It was probably loaned from Latin castrum. The Berber (Amazigh) word for "ksar" used in North Africa by the Berber-speaking populations is ighrem (singular) or igherman (plural), denoting a "fortified village," or "fort".

Architecture

Ruins of the ksar at Timimoun, Algeria
Ksar Chenini, an abandoned ksar in southern Tunisia

Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having collective granaries known as a ghorfa or agadir and other structures like a mosque, bath, oven, and shops. Ksour / igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The building material of the entire structure is normally adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things, the granary itself, found within a ksar, and the ksar, which is a village, normally with granaries within it. Ksars form one of the main manifestations of Berber architecture.

See also