Once upon a time, on the verges of a 12 th century highway, a village sprang up on the banks of the Tensift River, looking out over the forests of palm trees and the snow-clad summits of the Atlas mountains.
For hundreds of years nomad caravans travelled the highway, going to Fez and passing through the village of Oulad Messaoud.
Modern times saw the birth of other means of transport, and of the emergence of Marrakesh as a premium tourist destination, . and the appearance of Quad-bikes
And that is how the little hamlet (douar in Arabic) of Oulad Messaoud came to welcome quad-bikers to Mr Kansour's village café, for friendly chats over a glass of tea and hot bread rolls.
From such simple beginnings was born the idea of opening « Le Mirage » restaurant, to allow travellers to share the outstanding views all around. De cette pause romanesque naquit l'idée de construire un restaurant «Le Mirage», pour inviter le voyageur au partage de ce panorama exceptionnel.
Up on a rocky outcrop by the village, Le Mirage was build, stone by stone, by workers from the village, and then by nimble-fingered maâlems, or mastercraftsmen who clad the walls in tadelakt, covered the floors with mosaic tiles or zelliges, and the ceilings in carved plasterwork, tataoui and sculpted woodwork, creating a dazzling testament to the skills and traditions of Moroccan craftsmanship.
From such simple beginnings was born the idea of opening « Le Mirage » restaurant, to allow travellers to share the outstanding views all around. De cette pause romanesque naquit l'idée de construire un restaurant «Le Mirage», pour inviter le voyageur au partage de ce panorama exceptionnel.
Up on a rocky outcrop by the village, Le Mirage was build, stone by stone, by workers from the village, and then by nimble-fingered maâlems, or mastercraftsmen who clad the walls in tadelakt, covered the floors with mosaic tiles or zelliges, and the ceilings in carved plasterwork, tataoui and sculpted woodwork, creating a dazzling testament to the skills and traditions of Moroccan craftsmanship.
For All your stays of one week,
4 payed night/3nights are offered
As the this bewitching place became more and more widely known, the restaurant began to feel the need of a place where guests could stay the night, if the wished; and so for four whole years a Kasbah was built under the watchful eyes of the villagers, happy and proud of the renown and success that it would bring to their hamlet.
From then on, things began to move rapidly - the project brought fame and fortune to the village, transporting it from the Middle Ages to the third millennium in a few short years; a hamlet that had known only the flickering light of petrol lamps saw the arrival of mains electricity and all the benefits of the modern age.
The hamlet that had endured the yearly round of droughts and water shortages saw the construction of the very first public fountain, - what a joy it was to share in the general jubilation at the arrival of a source of drinking water !
There was just one thing that needed to be done in order for the village to be fully part of the twenty-first century: to vanquish the isolation and distance that caused so much distress when for example a sick child needed medical attention .. and quite quickly the first telegraph poles sprang up carrying the first open air phone line to the villagers, bringing a sense of security and the chance to keep in contact with family members far away.
From then on, things began to move rapidly - the project brought fame and fortune to the village, transporting it from the Middle Ages to the third millennium in a few short years; a hamlet that had known only the flickering light of petrol lamps saw the arrival of mains electricity and all the benefits of the modern age.
The hamlet that had endured the yearly round of droughts and water shortages saw the construction of the very first public fountain, - what a joy it was to share in the general jubilation at the arrival of a source of drinking water !
There was just one thing that needed to be done in order for the village to be fully part of the twenty-first century: to vanquish the isolation and distance that caused so much distress when for example a sick child needed medical attention .. and quite quickly the first telegraph poles sprang up carrying the first open air phone line to the villagers, bringing a sense of security and the chance to keep in contact with family members far away.
We city-dwellers from our earliest years have probably never experienced the sense of precariousness that overshadows a life led without water, electricity or telephones ... a life of hard physical work in the depths of the country in intense cold and blazing sunshine.
Modern life has brought comfort to some, but has left many feeling more keenly than ever the lack of everything it has to offer; are we happier as a result ? perhaps we will find out one day, or perhaps we will never know.
But these days, the village children's eyes sparkle with joy, the village has its own mosque and school. The subsoil, rich in raw lime, the main natural resource of the village, keeps the new lime kilns working. Life at the Kasbah follows the rhythm of the seasons and the ebb and flow of its river, in some ways, we are still in other times, other spaces, another world - a world of silence, the rushing of the wind, tranquillity, the beauty of the open countryside, a feeling of unquenchable lust for life, wide open spaces with an eloquent charm all their own, calling out to all nature-lovers to rediscover our true roots.
The beauty of the original plan is that it marries the charm of a Riad to the gentle comfort of a good hotel that welcomes with open arms all adventurous souls on a voyage of discovery. All this and more went into the conception of a unique Kasbah Le Mirage on the doorstep of Marrakesh, which can now be summed up in just three words :
OTHER-WORLDLY, OUT-STANDING and CONVIVIAL .
Modern life has brought comfort to some, but has left many feeling more keenly than ever the lack of everything it has to offer; are we happier as a result ? perhaps we will find out one day, or perhaps we will never know.
But these days, the village children's eyes sparkle with joy, the village has its own mosque and school. The subsoil, rich in raw lime, the main natural resource of the village, keeps the new lime kilns working. Life at the Kasbah follows the rhythm of the seasons and the ebb and flow of its river, in some ways, we are still in other times, other spaces, another world - a world of silence, the rushing of the wind, tranquillity, the beauty of the open countryside, a feeling of unquenchable lust for life, wide open spaces with an eloquent charm all their own, calling out to all nature-lovers to rediscover our true roots.
The beauty of the original plan is that it marries the charm of a Riad to the gentle comfort of a good hotel that welcomes with open arms all adventurous souls on a voyage of discovery. All this and more went into the conception of a unique Kasbah Le Mirage on the doorstep of Marrakesh, which can now be summed up in just three words :
OTHER-WORLDLY, OUT-STANDING and CONVIVIAL .
© Copyright 2008 - Kasbah Le Mirage - Tous droits réservés - Réalisé par :
Marocréation