About fifty kilometers from the city of Tata, this Berber village of the Anti-Atlas is perched at more than 1,000 meters above sea level.
In a landscape of olive and palm trees, backed by stratified hills, the village is a window on the heritage of the kingdom.
Imposing citadel of protection and storage of the village's property, its collective granary (called "agadir" in the Amazigh language), probably built in the eighteenth century and restored in 2012, is still functional, witness to a centuries-old community organization that tends to disappear.
"We grew up with the tradition of storing our seeds, dried fruits, oils and valuables," Oubrahim told AFP.
"And we continue to respect it," proudly says the septuagenarian draped in the traditional indigo blue tunic of the Berbers.
Pride. The word often comes up in the mouths of the inhabitants of Aït Kine at the evocation of the "monument" which "represents our community spirit", adds Abdelghani Charai, a 60-year-old trader back on the land of his ancestors after years of wanderings.
Protection and security
The agadir, built of adobe in the center of the village, is protected by an almost impassable wall, surmounted by a stone watchtower.
Lahcen Boutirane, guard of an old granary, walks in his compound, in the village of Aït Kine, Morocco, March 1, 2023 © FADEL SENNA / AFP
Inside, 76 compartments are arranged in three levels around an open-air courtyard where a stone cistern for water storage has been placed.
"There are 63 families left in the village who each use their hut. The others have left but they keep their archives here," says the caretaker of the place, Lahcen Boutirane.
They store barley, dates, almonds, but also documents, such as marriage and birth certificates, religious texts and contracts, recipes for magical remedies, written on palm tree stalks.
"The attic was a guarantee of security, especially in case of +siba+", rebellion of local tribes against the central power, explains Mr. Charai.
Collective granaries are considered sacred and inviolable spaces, governed by customary rights, protecting crops in case of drought but also attacks, confirms archaeologist Naïma Keddane, a specialist in these buildings of the Anti-Atlas, a mountain range in southwestern Morocco.
"Because of all the history it contains, it is important to keep a link with this place that testifies to the ingenuity of our ancestors," pleads Lahcen Boutirane, who has been watching over the attic of Aït Kine for years.
"Solidarity institutions"
If there are still collective granaries in North Africa, Algeria in Aurès, southern Tunisia and Libya in Jebel Nefoussa, it is in Morocco that they are the most numerous, even if most are no longer used.
A woman sits in an old attic in the village of Aït Kine, Morocco, on March 1, 2023 © FADEL SENNA / AFP
The kingdom has more than 550 ancient "iguidar" (the plural of agadir) in different regions, mainly in the Center and South, according to the Ministry of Culture which is preparing their inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The variety of these constructions attests to their heritage value: granaries caves or cliffs, crowning hills or overlooking a valley.
"The challenge is to safeguard Moroccan collective granaries while they have almost disappeared in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya," said architect and anthropologist Salima Naji.
Passionate about these "solidarity institutions", she undertook the restoration of Aït Kine's agadir, which now attracts both scholars and simply curious.
Emanuele Maspoli, a tour operator, today accompanies Italian tourists who machine gun the beautiful carved wooden door, adorned with wrought iron, of the attic.
A woman sits in an old attic in the village of Aït Kine, Morocco, on March 1, 2023 © FADEL SENNA / AFP
"We tour the granaries of the region, extraordinary places that testify to the historical richness of Moroccan oases," boasts the fifty-year-old guide who has been traveling Morocco for ten years.
"It's a magical place!" enthuses Antonella Dalla, one of the tourists, as she walks through the attic.
© 2023 AFP