Gara Medouar, also known as Jebel Mudawwar, Gara Mdouar or Mdoura, is a horseshoe-shaped geological formation near Sijilmasa, Morocco. In the 11th century it was developed into a fortress with a military garrison that likely protected the nearby trade city of Sijilmasa, where gold coins were minted, and the trade routes from the south. Representatives of the Almoravid dynasty likely had the fortifications built, which included a wall of up to 12 metres high that closed off the only opening to the massif, two walls and defensive structures along the mountains, dams in the canyons to collect water, and a variety of structures on the plateaus.

Sijilmasa was a medieval Moroccan city and trade entrepôt at the northern edge of the Sahara in Morocco. The ruins of the town extend for five miles along the River Ziz in the Tafilalt oasis near the town of Rissani. The town's history was marked by several successive invasions by Berber dynasties. Up until the 14th century, as the northern terminus for the western trans-Sahara trade route, it was one of the most important trade centres in the Maghreb during the Middle Ages.