Don's vacation in Morocco

Tangier,
Gateway to Morocco.

Music sample from a Berber Wedding

Ruins of the ancient Roman city of Volubilis near Meknes and the Holy City of Moulay Idriss.

In 1874, the French archeologist and diplomat Tissot identified the ruins, and further extensive excavations were started in 1915 which revealed that the site had been occupied since Neolithic times. Before Mauretania became part of the Roman Empire in 40 A.D., Volubilis was one of the two capitals of the Kingdom of Juba II; the it became the headquarters of the Roman procurators of Mauretania. Towards the end of the 3rd century A.D., it was more or less abandoned by the Romans but nevertheless continued to be occupied by Christianized Berbers who remained faithful to the Latin tongue until they were conquered by Arabs.

Thereafter, Volubilis was abandoned in favour of Moulay Idriss and came to be know as Oualila, Oulili or Gualili. What was left of the town was further demolished by the earthquake of 1755.

The trip ran from April 22nd through May 2nd. Starting at Casablanca then on to Rabat and Kentira. Then two days in Tangier. Then to Fez that was be a home base for day trips and touring mountian towns and ending in Marrakech.

I took all the photographs shown here.

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Pictures and HTML Copyright 1995 by Donald Berryman, All rights reserved.