Roman Ruins at Volubilis

We traveled from Fès to Moulay Idriss, Morocco's holiest city located in the heart of the Middle Atlas mountains, just two kilometers from the Roman ruins at Volubilis. The shortest explanation I can give of why this is Morocco's holiest city is to say that this is where Moulay Idriss, great-grandson of the prophet Mohammed and founder of Morocco's first Arab/Muslim dynasty, the Idrisids. He was a Muslim missionary and he converted many of the Berber peoples of Morocco to Islam. We were doubly fortunate to even stay in this town: 1) Up until two years ago, non-Muslims were not allowed to spend the night in this holy city and 2) the moussem (festival) of Moulay Idriss usually takes place in early September, but Ramadan will be going on at that time so the festival was moved up to the night of July 15th! We chose not to partake in the festival itself since it has strong religious meaning and we didn't want to interfere, but I got some video from our hotel and you can hear all the music in the town:

We ate dinner at the hotel. Our hotel was what they call a riad, meaning a family-owned hotel with very basic rooming. The family that owned our riad were Berbers and they took great pride in serving up a wonderful couscous made in the traditional Berber fashion with 7 vegetables. We even ate it with our hands, rolling the couscous into balls.

Earlier in the day, we hired a very knowledgeable guide to lead us through the Roman ruins at Volubilis. Volubilis was the most significant Roman town in all of northwestern Africa. It was built on a sight known for the Volubilis flowers that bloom there and the area was already called Oualili by the local Berber tribes. (Oualili is the Berber name for the same flower.) Here is a picture of Volubilis flowers growing at the entrance to the ruins:

These are spectacular ruins! I wish I could share here all the pictures I took. You can read more about the site here. Here are some of my favorite pictures and I'll add a few comments to give them context.

In this photo I am sitting on the steps of the temple. Behind me you can see the pillars of the courtyard surrounding the front of the temple. Notice that the columns have Corinthian column heads. In the background are the Middle Atlas Mountains:

This a picture of some beautifully stylized columns in what would have been one of the most beautiful homes in Volubilis. Also notice the round pool that would have been the fountain at the center of the home:

There are many mosaics in Volubilis. Although only a fraction of the town has been fully excavated, several mosaics have been restored. Here is a mosaic of one of the 12 feats of Hercules:

In this picture, you can see the very large basilica on the right. This would have been much like a tribunal, a place where disputes were resolved according to Roman laws, were politicians and people of importance would gather to do business. The pillars to the left are at the forum outside the temple. This particular view is from the market where there were stalls for tradespeople to conduct business:

Here I am in front of the Arch of Triumph, very common in Roman conquered lands. The Berbers coming in from the mountains would have had to pass under this arch, symbolically submitting to Roman authority. It was also an impressive monument to honor local authorities:

Here is a pedestal for a statue. The pedestal is engraved with praises for the person represented by the statue that used to rest on this pedestal. The statue and its pedestal were among many surrounding the public square or forum outside the basilica. There is also a picture of the top of this pedestal. Notice the imprint from where the feet of statue were once placed:

There were many unique things that our guide showed us which really showed the long-term human habitation in this place. Every time we came across them, we were a bit awed by the sense that people had lived, worked, raised families, and spent their lives in this place. Here is a picture that can illustrate this for you. In the background you can see the water fountain that poured into this trough-like area. The large stones placed along the edge of the fountain were used for washing clothes. You can see where centuries of people washing clothes has worn deep curves in the stone. There even a smaller curve for where they would have placed the soap:

There was an Englishman who came through the ruins at Volubilis and drew sketches in the 1830's. Luckily his sketches have survived, because almost all the structures at Volubilis were brought down by a terrible earthquake in Lisbon, Spain on November 1, 1755 (mentioned by Voltaire in his masterpiece Candide) that was powerful enough to decimate these ruins in Morocco. Archaeologists used the Englishman's drawings to help then in rebuilding the site.

Today, this site is a UNESCO World Heritage protected site. Thanks to UNESCO, some very good preservation efforts are underway and much archaeological work is revealing more and more information about Volubilis. I am planning to work with my colleagues in Geography and History where students can explore these two areas of study by discovering the various UNESCO World Heritage sites around the world, including Volubilis and the medina in Fès.