Atlas Studio entrance gates

Touted as the world’s largest film studio (by acreage), Morocco’s Cinema Studio Atlas is the reason why the region is considered the Hollywood of Africa. Founded in 1983, the studio has seen big-budget productions like the non-Disney Ridley Scott flick Gladiator (2000) and HBO’s Game of Thrones.

A number of Disney and their subsidiaries have filmed here including Fox’s The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Kundun (1997), Fox’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005), and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010). Additional scenes for most of these films took place at the nearby ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou.

One of the sets from Fox’s Kingdom of Heaven (2005) still stands.

While this place is still a working film studio, visitors are free to wander the grounds to check out a variety of props and abandoned film sets.

• Read about our visit to this location and other Moroccan points of interest in our blog post: Treasures of Morocco: Finding Epcot’s Real-Life Landmarks

Address: Km 5, BP 28 Route de Marrakech, Ouarzazate 45000, Morocco
Visitor Information: TripAdvisor