Asni

Asni (Arabic: اسني ) is a village and a municipality in the High Atlas in the Province of Al Haouz in the region of Marrakech- Tensift -El Haouz, Morocco. For a total of about 20,000 inhabitants municipality Asni also includes the mountain village of Imlil and several other mountain villages.

Location

Asni is located about 40 km south of Marrakech at Oued Rheraya at an altitude of about 1150 m above sea level. inst. From Marrakech to Asni buses and taxis Grand. The much-visited pilgrimage site of Moulay Brahim is only about 7 km north.

Population and Economy

Almost 100 % of the inhabitants are of Asni Berbers who wrest the fields in the area of Riverside painstaking work some barley. For the cultivation of vegetables, it is usually too cold ( frosts may be visible even in summer) and so this needs to be bought or bartered in the markets. In the main, livestock and grazing (sheep and goats) is operated. For most tourists Asni is just a transit point on their way to Imlil or after Tinmal.

History

As in most areas of Morocco Berber exist no written records about the history of the place. However, one can assume that the location of semi-nomadic people discovered from the deeper regions of the country on their summer excursion with the cattle herds in the mountain regions and was then inhabited sometime later permanently.

Attractions

Since the 1960s, the place has completely changed his appearance - the old single-story structure, built in stone and clay and covered with flat reed or straw roofed houses are two-storey new buildings made ​​of concrete (foundation and ceiling ) and hollow block bricks ( walls) given way, all are plastered and were painted in reddish hues. Saturday is market day ( suq ) in Asni and there are - in addition to vegetables - also sold household goods as well as sheep, goats and chickens. In terms of landscape offer Asni and the villages in the area delightful views of the snow until well into spring north side of the High Atlas.

Geology

The surroundings of Asni is of volcanic origin and among amateur geologists very well known by the appearance of intense red-colored agate, amethyst, quartz geodes goethite, gypsum crystals and calcite geodes. Rocks are basalts and tuffs Melaphyre.