25/03/2022
Rissani has a legendary history. Between the 14th and the 18th centuries, Rissani was the location of Sijilmassa, the famed desert capital. It is where fortunes in gold and slaves were traded. Rissani is famous for high-quality leather production. It is made from goatskins that are carefully tanned with the use of Tamarisk bark.
Location-wise, Rissani was so strategic that the ancestors of the ruling Alawite dynasty, Filali, staged the epic battle to supplant the Saadians. Although only a quarter of the population lives in the 17th-century ksar and the modern town constitutes a single street and one square, impacts of the past are still heard in the souqs. The town is a cultural destination in Morocco displaying aesthetic examples of early Moroccan architectural styles and reflected in palaces and temples, such as Ksar Oulad Abdelhalim and Ksar Aber.