M'Zab Valley,Algeria.

Located 600 km south of Algiers, in the heart of the Sahara Desert, the five Ksour (fortified villages) of the M'Zab Valley form an extraordinarily homogeneous ensemble in the desert, the mark of a sedentary and urban civilisation possessing an original culture that has, through its own merit, preserved its cohesion throughout the centuries. Comprised of Ksour and palm groves of El-Atteuf, Bounoura, Melika, Ghardaïa and Beni-Isguen (founded between 1012 and 1350), the M'Zab Valley has conserved practically the same way of life and the same building techniques since the 11th century, ordered as much by a specific social and cultural context, as by the need for adaptation to a hostile environment, the choice of which responded to a historic need for withdrawal and a defensive imperative.
Thank you Habib for this beautiful card.
Date of Inscription: 1982
Ref: 188