MOROCCO // Art imitates life at At Ben Haddou, rising up from the southern foothills of Morocco's Atlas Mountains like some wildly imagined fortress from The Arabian Nights. Movie buffs may recognise it from Lawrence of Arabia, Jesus of Nazareth (much of it was rebuilt for the production) and Gladiator, all of which used this red mud-brick ksar (fortified village) as their backdrop. While film-maker interest saved it from ruin, Unesco protection has helped preserve Ait Ben Haddou, which was born in the 11th century as an Almoravid caravanserai. Today you'll find a tangle of medieval lanes climbing to a summit from where a panorama of mountains, palm groves and stony desert stretches to the horizon.