Although you’d never know it, Tamegroute, a short distance south of Zagora, was once the preeminent settlement of the whole valley, and the intellectual and spiritual engine of much of southern Morocco. The Zaouia (monastery) Nasiriyya was the seat of a Sufi order, one of the largest and most respected in the world in the 17th Century. This importance made them critical in dispute-resolution, a key role in a time of feuding tribes and caravan raids. The order assembled one of the finest Islamic libraries in Africa and several rare, ancient and important manuscripts can still be found here. The rest of the settlement is interesting to wander around, with narrow, low passages and even alleyways beneath the village.
