Azrou’s Cultural Centre

The Middle Atlas Heritage Centre is a cultural institution dedicated to showcasing the cultural heritage and sociocultural features of the Middle Atlas region. Through its exhibits and activities, the centre aims to preserve local heritage while contributing to the development of the community. This valuable institution represents the natural and cultural heritage of the Middle Atlas and provides tools and opportunities for a deeper understanding of the region. The Middle Atlas Heritage Centre offers visitors a permanent exhibit comprising three halls: Exhibit Hall No. 1: Natural Heritage This hall features minerals, fossils, rocks, and petrified tree branches, such as quartz and sphalerite from the Paleozoic era, Triassic aragonite, Jurassic barite, and Upper Cretaceous ammonites. Additionally, the hall includes a collection of local aromatic and medicinal plants, such as thyme, wormwood, and Anacyclus pyrethrum. To enhance the museum experience, information panels provide insights into the region’s geology, water resources, plants, gardens, and traditional architecture. Other panels highlight the vulnerability of forests and the importance of ecosystems and water as vital sources of life. Exhibit Hall No. 2: Intangible Cultural Heritage This hall is devoted to the region’s intangible cultural heritage, crafts, and traditional arts. It displays a collection of jewellery, traditional men’s and women’s attire, rifles, musical instruments, and carpets. Visitors can lea about the art of weaving through a loom and its tools. The hall also features photographs depicting arts, habits, and crafts, such as traditional farming tools, nomadic lifestyles, and festivals, including the Cherry Festival in Sefrou and the Ahidous Festival in Aïn Leuh. Exhibit Hall No. 3: Archaeological and Historical Heritage This hall showcases artefacts discovered in the Middle Atlas region, spanning various historical eras: prehistoric, pre-Islamic, and medieval. • Prehistoric Collection: Includes small and bifacial hand axes, fragments, scrapers, serrated tools, blades, and crescent-shaped tools dating back to the Upper Paleolithic era. The Neolithic period is represented through pottery, ceramics, arrowheads, modified shells, bone fishhooks, and other artefacts. To demonstrate the development of agriculture and technology during this period, the exhibit features grinding stones, mortars (marking the start of agriculture), polished axes, and animal fossils, including the remains of a bear found in the Ifri Oussaid cave. • Pre-Islamic Artefacts: Include a young woman’s necklace, copper rings, a decorated bone, and funerary engravings. • Medieval and Islamic Artefacts: Feature pottery, glass, and metal artefacts excavated from the Fzaz site. To complement the tour, panels have been installed providing information about the region’s major archaeological sites and the artefacts discovered at each location.