Amezrou Mellah and Synagogue, Zagora

The Draa Valley once held some thirty Jewish communities, according to the University of Haifa project, and Amezrou was among those around Zagora. Its Jews lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Amazigh neighbours inside a fortified kasbah. The sources do not give a founding date. The community here left around 1958.

The kasbah is a warren of narrow lanes and covered passages between high earthen walls. Visiting Jewish Morocco records that Jews used the west gate and Muslims the east gate.

The craft tradition is the most living link to the Jewish past. Jewellers, blacksmiths and carpenters work nearby, and blacksmiths trained by Jews still use their models to make fibulas (traditional garment pins) and medallions. Former Jewish shops survive, some with tools still in use. Diarna recorded an elderly Muslim artisan who learned his craft from Jewish teachers and could still recall and recite some of their prayers.

The old synagogue is in better condition than others in the Draa Valley, according to Visiting Jewish Morocco. The Hebrew sign that once marked it has gone, so you will need a guide to find it. The sources do not describe its interior in detail, and it is no longer used for prayer. If you go inside, treat it as the sacred space it was.

Amezrou is visited with a local guide, who can open doors and introduce you to the craftsmen. Allow time to talk with them: their memories are part of the heritage. Mornings are cooler for walking the kasbah, especially from May to September. If you buy jewellery, ask which pieces follow the old Jewish designs.

Amezrou sits on the classic road south through the Draa. It pairs naturally with the mellah of Ouarzazate on the way down, and with an overnight in the desert beyond Zagora. Our guide to Jewish heritage in southern Morocco covers the other Draa communities.