Gladiator film vestiges, Ouarzazate

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Explo writer

Aug

32635 pts.

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A fake coliseum lost in the middle of the desert...

My experience, Explo description:

Gladiator is a 2000 epic film. It is directed by Ridley Scott and starred by Russell Crowe.
Crowe portrays General Maximus Decimus Meridius, friend of Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who is betrayed and murdered by the emperor’s ambitious son, Commodus. Captured and enslaved along the outer fringes of the Roman empire, Maximus rises through the ranks of the gladiatorial arena to avenge the murder of his family and his Emperor.

The film was shot in three major locations between January through May in 1999 : Germany, Malta, and Ouarzazate for the scenes of slavery, desert travel, and gladiatorial training school.

Nowadays, it just remains the vestiges of a fake coliseum.

My personal recommendations:

A single guy guards the site, which is also a very little oasis. You can stay there for the night if you want to camp : strange impressions are garanteed ! But there is no food and no water.

How getting there:

By car. You will need a 4x4, because just a trail gets there.
On the road going to Marrakech (N9), just before (about 3-4km) arriving at Tikirt and the junction with the road going to Aït Benhaddou, please turn right and follow a track going north. 5km later, you will arrive at the edge of a cliff overlooking a large plain. The coliseum is located there, where the track goes down the cliff to go down to the plain.
From there, you can follow an other track leading to Aït Benhaddou (8km, NW).

A tip to eat:

There is no food there. Please take a picnic.

A tip to sleep:

No place to sleep. Closest places : Aït Benhaddou or Ouarzazate.

Useful information:

Open hours:

All day long !

Visit duration:

20 min.

Entry fees:

Free. Expect a little backshish for the guy who stands there : 1 euro.