ZAGORA

Zagora (berber Tazagurt,arabic: زاكورة‎) is a town in the  DARAA river valley in the DARAA tafilalt region of southeastern MOROCCO.

It is flanked by the mountain ZAGORA from which the town got its name. Originally it was called 'Tazagourt' (ⵜⴰⵣⴰⴳⵓⵔⵜ) the singular of plural 'Tizigirt' (ⵜⵉⵣⵉⴳⵉⵔⵜ), BERBER  for 'twinpeaks', referring to the fortress of the Murabitun, or Almoravid, people. In old European maps the mountain Zagora is already indicated but the town itself was only built in the 20th century. On the top of the Zagora mountain the remains of an ALmoravid fortress can still be seen. The exact location of the former Almouravidmousque is still a matter of dispute. Each year the moussem (festival) of the Sufi saint moulay Abdelkader Jilali is celebrated at Zagora. Languages spoken in the city include MORROCAN, TASHLHIT and TAMAZHIGHT. A sign at the town border states "TOMBOKTOU 52 days", the supposed time it takes to get to TIMBOUKTOU, MALI  on foot or CAMEL . The original sign have been replaced by aMURAL  painting