Kelaat M'Gouna is a beautiful mountainous city, founded in the first third of the twentieth century approximately. This castle is located in the southeast of the Kingdom of Morocco, where it belongs to the Tinghir region and is famous for rose cultivation, as well as for its great human, tourist, natural, cultural and agricultural qualifications. It is also famous for its high-quality rose products, as a festival is held in its honor every year that gains worldwide fame. Let us get to know this beautiful city in this article.
Location and population of Kasbah M'Gouna
It is located 90 kilometers east of Ouarzazate, on the main road No. 10 linking the cities of Tinghir and Ouarzazate, and is a tourist and strategic area that connects the two regions together, and it is also located near the M'Gouna Valley. It is worth noting that it was named after a mountain called Mount M'Gouna, which is considered one of the highest mountain peaks in Morocco with a height of about 4080 meters. This castle is famous for growing beautiful roses and making its water. It is administratively part of the Tinghir region, and is bordered to the north by the Souk El Khemis commune, to the south by Ait Sedrate Sahel El Gharbiyya, to the east by Ait Sedrate Sahel El Sharqiyya, and to the west by the Ait Ouassif commune. This urban commune is experiencing significant demographic growth and significant internal and external migration, and the majority of its residents are Amazigh, except for a few who belong to the tribes of the Sharif Idrisids and Alaouites. The population practices certain activities, including agriculture, trade, and the production of roses used in cosmetics and natural rose water.
History of Kelaat M'Gouna Kingdom of Roses
The word Kelaat M'Gouna is composed of the Arabic word 'Kelaat ', plus the word 'Makone', in reference to the valley of "Makone", which is an Amazigh word, which was called in the past "Taghremt Namkoun", its name consists of two parts: "Taghremt" which means castle in the Amazigh language, and "Namkoun" which means the sleeper, which means "the castle of the sleeper", and the word "Amkoun" in the Amazigh language refers to the fetus sleeping in its mother's womb. It is said that the establishment of Kelaat M'Gouna dates back to the fifteenth century at the hands of some Levantine merchants who left behind the "local rose" that is not grown anywhere else in Morocco except for the M'Gouna Valley and the Dades Valley, but there are some sources that confirm that the French were the ones who brought the Damascus rose to Kelaat M'Gouna in 1938, and for five centuries, Qalaat M'Gouna remained towering on the bank of the M'Gouna Valley, one of the largest valleys on the southern slope of the High Atlas Mountains, inhabited by a few families while most of the castle's areas were empty and were orchards. With the arrival of the French protectorate authorities to this area in the mid-twenties, they decided to build a long bridge connecting the castle to the main road, but Amghar, the sheikh of the tribe at the time, was able to keep them away from his castle, which prompted them to establish their project in an empty place, about two kilometers away from the historic castle, and they gave it the common name in the region.. Kelaat M'Gouna, and since then the circles began to revolve around the historic castle and a new generation of residents inhabited it, so some historians say that it was founded in 1929 AD by colonialists for a strategic purpose, which is Deterring organized movements of tribes against them.
Economy of Kelaat M'Gouna
It has high-quality agricultural products such as figs, almonds and walnuts, and other products such as free saffron, olives, grapes, apples and apricots. The active population there engages in various economic activities, including agricultural activity, followed by tourism, then traditional industry, in addition to the production of aromatic materials. Rose cultivation is the main economic activity of the region's residents, who grow the "Damascus rose" on their lands, from which natural rose water is distilled, bottled and then exported to other Moroccan cities and abroad. Roses are used to produce cosmetics, natural rose water, etc. The economy of Kelaat M'Gouna and its fame are directly linked to the rose picking and harvesting seasons, and are dependent on marketing the cosmetics and products extracted from them in local and international markets. Some families there also distill roses in a traditional way and sell them to private cooperatives, where three tons of rose petals produce one liter of rose water. Rose oil is also extracted from rose petals by steam distillation. The roses are hand-picked and then transported to small distilleries in the area to be processed. There are factories in Casablanca that buy much of the crop, and the rose wreaths are sold by local children for a very small price.
Tourism in Kelaat M'Gouna
It is considered one of the tourist areas that attract many tourists, especially in the spring, as it is an important destination for many Moroccans and foreigners during the world-famous Rose Festival. It is also characterized by a beautiful climate, terrain and kasbahs located on the banks of the Dadas River and the M'Gouna River, which attracts visitors from all over, especially the M'Gouna Valley, which gives life to roses. It is also called the Valley of Roses and the Valley of a Thousand Kasbahs after the Berber tribes built their distinctive historical kasbahs on its banks hundreds of years ago. Therefore, this valley is considered one of the beautiful tourist areas that many tourists visit, especially mountain tourism enthusiasts. It is possible to go for a short walk or walk long distances in the mountainous terrain. There are also many Berber villages near Kelaat M'Gouna that are very beautiful, as well as the famous city of Imilchil, where the annual wedding festival is held.
Along the banks of the valley are many beautiful Damask roses that bloom in April and add to the beauty of the place. Up to four thousand tons of rose petals are harvested annually from 4,200 kilometers of rose bushes. In addition to the three-day rose season in Kalaat M'Gouna, which is well supported by the locals in the area, and includes many shows and fun activities. This festive occasion is a good reason to travel to this wonderful region of Morocco in May.
Rose Season in Kalaat M'Gouna
The Rose Season is an event where the economic dimension meets the cultural and heritage depth. It was initially just a small party and in 2012, it became a local festival with an international character.
In early May of each year, "Kalaat M'Gouna" celebrates its annual Rose Festival, this season that has gained worldwide fame over the years, and continues for several days after receiving the guests and giving the opening speeches. The full program of the session is presented every year, and a group of books are signed by local writers, and documentaries about roses are shown, immediately after which the rose exhibition and an exhibition of local traditional products are opened, and in the evening the audience has an appointment with the scientific forum of the festival where attendees discuss topics related to roses and scientific and academic seminars to benefit from the experiences of rose-producing countries, and immediately after that many sections and activities are opened on the sidelines of the session every year such as equestrianism, cross-country running and the farmer’s award competition, and various local products of rose extracts are displayed, which constitute one of the most important economic pillars of the region, and include shampoo, soap, cream and perfumes, in addition to poetry evenings, and artistic evenings are revived in the presence of a large audience and are known for the participation of some well-known artists in Morocco and local groups, then the beauty queen of roses is chosen, as girls from the same region apply to be nominated to win the title of queen, and the one who combines external beauty with intelligence and knowledge of the history and traditions of the region is chosen.