The ksar

The Ksar : The Mzab planning has several features, despite the austerity imposed by the rigor due to the social ideal of rationality and functionality that is dictated by the harshness of the environment. The perspective image that the Mzab city (Ksar), offers the look, is built with a mass standing on a rocky place, its houses order clustered tightly and smoothly stepped terraces at the highest point, the minaret drawn up into the sky announcing the city and protecting it, it is the guarantor and the nervous system. By its order and its compactness, the city reflects the coherence and cohesion of its social body.

Cities as creations of men who have a long urban experience, were organized from the beginning, and urban structure indicates its priorities : mosques, walls, streets of every city are all similar to others in their texture ; their elements, color, and particularly their understanding of the site. Ghardaïa holds on all sides a peak in the middle of the river. Melika is the tip of a ridge along the rocky plateau, Beni-Isguen occupies a convex, El-Atteuf is built on a ravine, and Bounoura originally established on the top of a plateau on the edge of the river, and descended on the western side it no longer occupies the lower part.
     Every town draws a line concentrically around the mosque and is surrounded by a wall of medieval type, is a belt of semi-detached houses, making their own office wall.