Mtis is an old mining village, giving it a clear historical connection. The immediate surroundings of the destination and the area described offer different landscape features: the immediate surroundings include open-pit mines in the Mfis area near the old town of Merzouga, panoramic views in the village of Wadi Mfis, and the Valley of the Turtles; in the southern part of the area described, sand dunes give way to the hamada. For your travel planning, you can choose between Mtis’s mining history and the landscape features in the immediate surroundings or the area described.
Mining Village and Hiking Route
Mtis’s character as an old mining village provides a cultural and historical focus. A route description features a hike to the former lead mines of Mfis and to Khamlia, a Gnawa village. The route described thus combines a connection to the region’s former mining industry with Khamlia as a Gnawa village. If you would like to combine several themes on one hike, this route offers a specific perspective. Its focus on hiking also differs from taking in individual landscape features such as panoramic views or dunes.
Mines and Rocky Landscape
In the immediate surroundings of the destination, in the Mfis area near the old town of Merzouga, there are open-pit mines that form holes in the rock. The mines and openings in the rock make the mining connection visible in the landscape. Here, the focus is on rock and past use, not on a purely dune landscape. This feature thus connects Mtis as an old mining village with a rocky landscape in the destination’s immediate surroundings: mining and rock come to the fore together.
Panoramic Views and Traces of the Past
In the immediate surroundings of the destination, panoramic views can be enjoyed in the village of Wadi Mfis. They offer a different focus from the mines: instead of holes in the rock, the view takes centre stage. The Valley of the Turtles is also in the destination’s immediate surroundings. It contains remains of turtles that lived millions of years ago. Both features are in the destination’s immediate surroundings, but at different named locations. The panoramic view draws attention to the surroundings, while the remains evoke a timescale of millions of years.
The Transition to the Hamada
In the southern part of the area described, sand dunes give way to the hamada desert landscape. This feature is defined by the transition in the southern part of the area described: the dunes give way to the hamada rather than simply lying beside it. If you pay attention to landscape changes while travelling, you can see the sand dunes and hamada here as successive formations. Alongside the open-pit mines in the Mfis area and the panoramic views in the village of Wadi Mfis, the transition in the southern part of the area described is another clearly distinct landscape feature.
Things to Focus on During Your Trip
For your travel planning, you can first decide what you would like to focus on: are you primarily interested in Mtis as an old mining village, or would you prefer to focus on the surrounding landscape features? The hike described offers its own focus because it connects the former mines with Khamlia; the panoramic views in the village of Wadi Mfis, the turtle remains in the valley, and the transition to the hamada in the southern part of the area described appeal to different interests. This keeps the distinction clear: Mtis is the old mining village; the landscape features are in the immediate surroundings or the area described.
Discover more destinations: El Borj, Merzane, Khamlia, Arougou, Tisserdmine, El Haj Kaddour, El Hajeb, Tamtetoucht
For the wider travel overview: Meknès-Tafilalet.
