Le Jardin aux Etoiles
Riad between Agadir and Taroudant, in southern Morocco
Holiday rental with a resident of Swiss nationality
 Museum entranceLocated in Agadir's new university complex. We recommend that you get there via Avenue du 11-Janvier. |  Martian meteoriteFell in Erfoud. |  Martian meteorite named TissintArrival from the Natural History Museum in Vienna. |  Moroccan meteoriteFall at Dar Bou Nalia, southern Morocco. Photo Didier Descouens. |  Meteorite of 2005Classified by Professor Ibhi. |
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Unique on the entire African continent, the University Museum of Meteorites of Aagadir opened in February 2016. Located within the new Ibn Zohr university complex, on the edge of the N1 which bypasses the city of Souss to the east, it presents a hundred meteorites. A formidable geological heritage 40 minutes from our riad, enhanced by documentary films, to popularize knowledge. Morocco is one of the countries in the world that has the most of these treasures from the sky.
Agadir Meteorite Museum
Centre: Professor Abderahmane Ibhi.
A highly documented exhibition.
February 2016 : Mamoun Bouhadhoud, Minister for Industry, Trade, Investment and the Digital Economy, responsible for small businesses and the integration of the informal sector, explains the contents of a showcase to Zineb El Adaoui, Governor of the Souss-Massa region. On the right, Professor Abderrahmane Ibhi.
The heart and soul of the Agadir Meteorite Museum.
A land of meteorite finds for Professor Abderahmane Ibhi (left).
Professor Ibhi as a caver.
Meteorites, a Moroccan specialty
Coupled with a research center for the study of meteorites, the museum includes a collection of more than 100 meteorites, but also a dozen tektites, shatter-cones and impact breccias. The importance of these extraterrestrial objects in the history of our planet and that of humanity, their issues and questions in the scientific research are illustrated by documents and detailed explanations.
Collectors, prospectors, students, teacher-researchers or simply curious learn more about these extraterrestrial rocks. The soul and linchpin of the Museum is Professor Abderahmane Ibhi, renowned specialist in meteorites.
Impact craters
Visitors also discover the consequences of the falls of these meteorites and in particular the Moroccan impact craters. Samples of the Imilchil-Agoudal meteorite are for example on display. With a diameter of 120 m and arrived on Earth at a speed of 100,000 km/h, 40,000 years ago, this celestial object completely broke up, leaving behind large impact craters. These are the first astroblemes discovered in Morocco, by researchers from Ibn Zohr University. These craters formed the lakes Tislit and Isli, in the High Atlas.
Selenite evenings
Eager to add specimens to the Ibn Zohr collection, museum officials offer the possibility to anyone with a meteorite fragment to exhibit it at the museum. Either under an assumed name or under the name of the true owner.
Selenite evenings are also regularly on the museum's programme. Objective: observe the sky of Agadir, using astronomical instruments, but also meteorite impact craters on the lunar surface.
Joint efforts
The construction of the Agadir Meteorite Museum is the result of the joint efforts of Ibn Zohr University, the National Center for Scientific and Technical Research, the Ibn Zohr Astronomy Club and the Laboratory of Petrology Metallogeny and Meteorites. It is managed by the Ibn Zohr Astronomy Club, chaired by Professor Abderahmane Ibhi.
A collection of meteorites is also presented in Marrakech. Created by an amateur, it does not, however, have scientific backing.
Morocco, conducive to meteorite falls
Meteorite falls on Moroccan soil are frequent. The best known is that of Tissint, intervened in southern Morocco during the summer of 2011. This meteorite has been identified as coming from the planet Mars. In 2014, it was Tighert, a meteorite from the asteroid Vesta, which entered the pantheon of Moroccan meteorites.
Meteorites are also a significant source of income for the inhabitants of remote regions such as Tata, Erfoud, Zagora, Es-Smara, Zag. It's the fortune that fell from the sky, a lucrative trade. But beware of counterfeits and scammers!
Open to the public and to educational and scientific groups (we recommend taking Boulevard du 11-Janvier so as not to miss this place which is not easy to find): every day from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. Closed on public holidays.
Admission price: 10 dirhams (1 euro)
Museum phone number: +212 667 340 427