Anraz, the ancient Jewish village
A quiet reminder of the valley's Jewish-Amazigh past
- Distance
- 3 km on foot, or 12 km by car, from Dar Tassa
- Getting there
- About an hour's walk, or 25 minutes by car
- Good for
- History, half-day walks, photography
For centuries Jewish and Amazigh families shared these valleys — trading, farming and living side by side. Anraz is one of the villages that still carries the traces: the outline of the old quarter, the cemetery on the slope, and place names that predate the road.
There is no ticket office and no signage. Visit it as you would someone's home — with a guide who knows the families, and with a light step.
A Jewish sanctuary in the middle of a Amazigh population that is one hundred per cent Muslim is less surprising than it sounds. In the douar of Anraz, in the Haouz region, lies buried the Jewish saint Rabbi Haïm Ben Diouane.
Restored in 2015, the shrine welcomes a crowd of pilgrims every year. A whole legend has grown around the place, carried down to our own day by the villagers, and it is hard to tell what is true from what is imagined. The Jewish saint is said to hold miraculous powers, a baraka so strong that the Muslim population itself would turn to him to ask his blessing.
What to see
The old quarter
Low doorways and shared courtyards still legible in the stonework, with the valley opening out below.
The hillside cemetery
Cared for by the neighbouring families. Visited respectfully and quietly, never as a backdrop.
Walk in from the piste
The last stretch is best done on foot — twenty minutes through fields and terraces, with the Atlas ridgeline ahead.
Planning a visit? Tell us what you would like to see and we will build the day around it.
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