Volubilis

Its Berber name is Walili. But it is better known by its Roman name, Volubilis. Stretching along the banks of the Oued Rhoumane, Volubilis lies close to the holy city of Moulay Idriss.

Inhabited, it seems, since the Neolithic era, traces of several civilisations mark the site and its surroundings: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Mauritanians allied with Rome, then Romans successively dominated these hectares of fertile land, where olive growing and the oil trade made the wealth of this city.

The departure of the Romans towards the North of Morocco

After the Romans evacuated the city around 285, withdrawing to Tangier, the city was no longer properly administered, its aqueduct fell into disuse, prompting the population to gradually move towards the banks of the river. Then, with the invasion of the Vandals led by Genseric, which put a final end to Roman domination over Africa, the city, which still spoke Latin, continued its decline and saw the arrival of Muslim troops in 681.

Volubilis, a city that was once exceptional

Gradually converted to Islam, the inhabitants of Volubilis nevertheless retained a certain independence and welcomed Idris I in 788. The new sultan built the unification of the north of his small state from Volubilis, where he resided. It was also from there that he extended his influence as far as Tlemcen. But with the construction of Fez, Volubilis definitively lost its status as capital and its influence was reduced to nothing. The city gradually fell into ruin, despite the arrival of Andalusians driven out of Cordoba in 818. And, although the site – called the pharaoh’s castle « Ksar Pharaoun » – was still inhabited, the plundering of its most precious building materials, particularly its marble and columns dating from the ancient city, by Moulay Ismail to build Meknes, would complete the emptying of the city of its last inhabitants and forever fix the image of a disenchanted Volubilis, an almost unreal ancient pause in the Moroccan landscape…