Soon after the morning site seeing within Meknes our group took a short drive in the afternoon up to Volubilis. It was a warm sunny day with some mild rain showers & a thunder cloud in the distance. I love visiting old ruins & ancient places because it makes me feel nostalgic and imagine what life must have been like in past civilizations.

Volubilis (Arabic: وليلي‎ Walīlī) is a partly excavated Roman city in Morocco situated near Meknes between Fes and Rabat. Built in a fertile agricultural area, it was developed from the 3rd century BC onwards as a Phoenician (and later Carthaginian) settlement. It grew rapidly under Roman rule from the 1st century AD onwards and expanded to cover about 40 hectares (100 acres) with a 2.6 km (1.6 mi) circuit of walls. The city gained a number of major public buildings in the 2nd century, including a basilica, temple and triumphal arch. Its prosperity, which was derived principally from olive growing, prompted the construction of many fine town-houses with large mosaic floors. This was once a very sophisticated & grand city.

Our entire day venturing around Meknes and Volubilis was jam packed with site seeing, soaking up the history & culture of this area but this stop was short and sweet and it wasn’t long before we all lugged our backpacks into the mini van to drive to our next destination: Onwards to Fes!

Missed previous Moroccan Posts? View them here:
Day one & two in Casablanca
Day three/Afternoon in Rabat
Day Four/Morning in Meknes

Alternatvly you can visit Jon’s Blog to see some stunning Travel Photography of Morocco.