Thursday 28 August 2014

volubilis AKA walili

An hour's drive from Fes lie the Roman remains of the ancient city of Volubilis. Standing alone amongst golden fields, blue mountains and clouds that hang like a ceiling, the city may be gone, but the drama is still here.
Volubilis was actually the first Roman settlement in Morocco, and Morocco's first capital city. It is clear from the layout what a lot of the spaces were designed for: baths, an olive oil press, a sacrificing stage. Others, I was told were: the courts of law, the temple of the gods Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.

Efforts have been made to restore parts of the site; columns filled in with brick to keep them standing. It's fun to construct the spaces in your head and imagine what life might have been like in those sophisticated but merciless times.

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