El Atteuf, meaning "the turn" in Arabic, sits at the bend of the M'zab river where the valley turns north. Founded in 1012, it is the oldest of the five Mozabite cities and retains Saharan architecture at its most austere. The houses are more tightly packed than in Ghardaia, the streets narrower, and the whole town reads as a single organism — a defensive cluster of stone and plaster that has barely changed in a thousand years.
Unlike Ghardaia, El Atteuf sees fewer visitors and the pace is slower. The mosque and the cemetery, with its flat grave markers aligned toward Mecca, are the main sights. The views from the upper town over the palm groves of the M'zab valley are among the best in the region.