If mod_rewrite
is enabled, my guess is that your server isn't with the AllowOverride
option properly set...
All .htaccess files are ignored by default in apache because someone can manage to upload a .htaccess file to your server and override your server configurations. If you're sure that your server's file system is protected you can explicit in the server's configuration that your settings can be overridden by any .htaccess
file in your directories.
This is done via the AllowOverride
setting. Refer to this question to understand a bit more about this.