Ksar
Image:Aït Benhaddou1.jpg|thumb|Ksar Aït Benhaddou, Morocco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987
Ksar or qṣar, in plural ksour or qsour, is a type of fortified village in North Africa, usually found in the regions predominantly or traditionally inhabited by Berbers. The equivalent Berber term used is or .
Etymology
The Arabic qaṣr was probably borrowed from the Latin word castrum.
Architecture
Ksour in the Maghreb typically consist of attached houses, often having a fortified communal granary like those in Algeria, or the ghorfa and agadir types known in Tunisia and Morocco respectively, beside other structures like a mosque, hammam, oven, and shops. Ksur or igherman are widespread among the oasis populations of North Africa. Ksars are sometimes situated in mountain locations to make defense easier; they often are entirely within a single, continuous wall. The building material of the entire structure usually is adobe, or cut stone and adobe. The idea of the ksar as a granary is a confused notion of two things: the granary itself, found within a ksar, and the ksar, a village, typically with granaries within it. Ksars form one of the main manifestations of Berber architecture.