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This fortified village and cluster of kasbahs is the best preserved of all the kasbahs located in the Atlas Mountains. It is also the most famous, thanks to its popularity with visiting film producers; the kasbah has been immortalized in dozens of movies, including Lawrence of Arabia, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Mummy, Gladiator and Alexander. Part of the appeal lies in the location: the kasbah tumbles down a hillside beside the Ouarzazate River. It is still partially inhabited by ten families.

This is no more than a small roadside hamlet, 35 km (22 miles) outside Marrakech. However, the place comes to life each Friday when it hosts a weekly country market. If you choose to pass through on the right day, it makes for a diverting hour-long stop off.

The village of Asni lies at a fork in the road – a left turn leads up to the village of Imlil and the striking kasbahs Tamandot and Toubkal . Jbel Toubkal dominates the view to the west, but there’s little for visitors to explore at Asni itself, apart from shops selling trinkets (things are cheaper in Marrakech). The highlight is the busy country market held on Saturdays – the largest in the Atlas.

Entrance to the Asni market

A busy, administrative hub of a region with spectacular mountain and desert scenery, Ouarzazate has become the centre of the Moroccan film industry and is also home to the Atlas Corporation Studios, 6 km (4 miles) north of town. They were built specifically to provide some infrastructure, including sound stages and sets, for movies. They can be toured when no film shoots are in progress. It’s well worth dropping in to see sets like the Tibetan monastery built for Kundun and Egyptian temple sets from French production, Asterix and Cleopatra. A yellow bus shuttles between the studio and Ouarzazate’s main street, Avenue Mohammed V.

The wide avenue named after Morocco’s first king is the spine of Marrakech. It connects the old and new cities, running from the Koutoubia to Jbel Guéliz (Mount Guéliz), a grandly-named rocky outcrop northwest of the medina with an old Foreign Legion outpost on top. Along the way are three major traffic circles: Place de la Liberté with its modern fountain; Place du 16 Novembre with the main post office; and the heart of the New City, Place Abdel Moumen Ben Ali.

It is difficult to reconcile these ruins with a palace once reputed to be among the world’s finest. An expanse of dusty ground within half-eroded walls, it retains some of its old elements, including sunken gardens and a dazzling piece of Moorish craftsmanship (see Badii Palace ).

Built in the 1890s by a powerful grand vizier (high official), the Bahia (“Brilliant”) is a minor palace complex approached by a long garden driveway. Inside, arrows direct visitors through a succession of courtyards and private rooms that were used by the vizier and his four wives. All the rooms are lavishly decorated with zellij tiling , sculpted stucco and carved cedarwood. The ruling sultan, Abdel Aziz, was so jealous of the riches of the Bahia that on the vizier’s death he had the palace stripped and looted.