About Volubilis
Founded as a Berber Mauretanian capital before Roman annexation in 40 AD, Volubilis (ancient Walili) grew into a prosperous Roman administrative city of some 20,000 inhabitants, the westernmost significant city of the Roman Empire. It produced olive oil and grain on an industrial scale: the enormous olive presses still visible among the ruins processed harvests that fed the entire Roman province. At its peak in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the city was a sophisticated urban center with a forum, basilica, capitol, public baths, triumphal arch, and hundreds of townhouses.
The Arab conquest of the 8th century ended Roman Volubilis, but the city was not entirely abandoned: a Berber community continued to inhabit it until the 18th century, when Moulay Ismail stripped many of its stones to build his capital at Meknes just 33km away. The 1755 Lisbon earthquake caused the most serious destruction. What remains today is nevertheless extraordinary: the Triumphal Arch of Caracalla (217 AD) stands nearly intact, the Basilica and Capitol retain their columns, and dozens of private houses preserve their mosaic floors with astonishing completeness.
The mosaics of Volubilis are the great revelation of any visit: intricate figurative compositions depicting Orpheus charming the animals, Hercules performing his labors, Diana bathing, Neptune in his sea-chariot, and scenes of athletic competition. These floors have never been moved; they lie precisely where Roman craftsmen laid them some 1,800 years ago, open to the sky, accessible with no barriers between you and the ancient world. Volubilis is best visited in spring when the surrounding fields are carpeted with wildflowers, or at golden hour when the columns cast long shadows across the stone.
2 Days
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