Erfoud ( ber, ⴰⵔⴼⵓⴷ, Latn, ber, Arfud; ar, أرفود) is an
oasis town in the
Sahara Desert, in the
Drâa-Tafilalet region, eastern
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...
. It is divided into several districts: Hay Salam, Hay Jdid, Hay Ziz, Hay el Bathaa, Hay Annahda, and Hay el Hamri.
Due to its proximity to
Merzouga desert village in the
Erg Chebbi Dunes, Erfoud has developed tourist-related infrastructures such as hotels and restaurants.
Filming location
Erfoud is a destination for filmmakers due to the beauty of the surrounding Sahara Desert and the town's oasis areas. Erfoud has been a
filming location for many films, including:
*''
March or Die'' (1977)
:In the film archeologists are uncovering an ancient city near Erfoud buried by a sand storm 3,000 years ago. The site is the resting place of a Berber
saint, "The Angel of the Desert".
*''
The Mummy'' (1999)
:Filming began in
Marrakech, Morocco on May 4, 1998 and lasted 17 weeks. Photography then moved to the
Sahara Desert outside Erfoud.
:Production designer Allan Cameron found a dormant
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...
near Erfoud where the entire set for
Hamunaptra could be constructed.
*''
Prince of Persia'' (2010)
:
Mike Newell selected Morocco as a shooting location for the film and also planned to film in
Pinewood Studios. Filming began in July 2008 in Morocco. Eight weeks were spent in Morocco before the first unit moved to Pinewood.
*''
SPECTRE'' (2015)
:For the 24th (official)
James Bond film
James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...
, the nearby
Gara Medouar played the part of an enemy headquarters.
Mars analogue research
This area of Morocco has also been identified as being very similar in appearance and possibly geology to certain areas on
the planet Mars. Because of this, there is an interest in this area as a field research location for Mars
analogue research
Human analog missions are activities undertaken on Earth in various environments to simulate aspects of human missions to other worlds, including the Moon, asteroids, and Mars. These remote field tests are performed in locations that are identifie ...
.
In February 2013 the
Austrian Space Forum spent the whole month with a field team including two space suit simulators (
Aouda.X and
Aouda.S
A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...
) and a number of
rovers to conduct a large number of experiments. They were supported by a Mission Support Center run from
Innsbruck,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
to simulate a mission to the surface of Mars.
The main desert base camp was named ''Camp
Weyprecht'' on February 11, with a later satellite camp about 80 km further south being called ''Station
Payer
A payer is a person who makes a payment.
Payer also may refer to: People
*Evariste Payer (1887–1963), Canadian professional hockey player
*Chantal Payer (born 1953), Canadian fencer
* Helge Payer (born 1979), Austrian international footballer
* ...
''.
References
{{Drâa-Tafilalet
Populated places in Errachidia Province
Oases of Morocco