The whole south of Morocco is summarized in the historical, traditional and exotic sounding word "Ouarzazate". In Ouarzazate everything is calm, beautiful and fresh - the very image of the authentic south of Morocco, where time has stood still for centuries. The town has been located in three different places during its existence, two of them still inhabited today. At 1,160 m altitude, Ouarzazate is a settlement of some twenty thousand inhabitants and offers all the amenities of a modern city. The town is proud of the great Somal mosque, the first stone of which was laid by King Mohammed V in 1958. Large luxury hotels welcome the many tourists who come to discover the exotic beauty of southern Morocco and life in the "pearl of the sands", as "Ouarzazate" is known.