Once a thriving Roman city, the ruins of Volubilis offer a real understanding of life here when the Roman Empire had control over this part of Africa. It was in the first century A.D. that the Romans built the city that would become an important Roman town in North Africa.
Walking among the ruins, looking at the tile floors, the towering columns and 2,000 year old arches, it doesn’t take too much imagination to envision the Roman city estimated to have had a population of 20,000.
Although the Romans lost control of the area by the third century, they did not immediately abandon the city. Their Latin influence was evident for several hundred more years up until the Arabs gained control of the region in the seventh century.
Volubilis remained an active and inhabited city until the 18th century. Although it suffered damage in an earthquake in 1755, and some of its marble was also taken for construction in Meknes, it remains the best preserved Roman ruins in of Morocco.
If you’re interested, one of my favorite travel companies, Exodus Travels, offers several tours of Morocco that include Roman ruins.
