Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
five daily), Fez (Dh85, 4½ hours, four daily), Marrakesh (Dh180, 8½ hours, daily) and
Tangier (Dh35, 2½ hours, six daily).
Cheaper non-CTM buses are generally more frequent. They cover the same destinations
as CTM buses, as well as Ouezzane (Dh30), Tetouan (Dh25) and Kenitra (Dh35).
Grands taxis run from outside the bus station to Ksar el-Kebir (Dh13), Assilah (Dh20),
Souk el-Arba (Dh25) and Tangier (Dh35).
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Lixus
Set on a hill overlooking the Loukos Estuary are the Carthaginian and Roman ruins of Lix-
us , a rather mysterious and neglected site that is one of the oldest inhabited places
in the country. Only about a quarter of the ancient city has been excavated but the visible
ruins, though badly damaged and overgrown, are impressive. Although not as extensive or
as well excavated as Volubilis, the location, size and serenity of Lixus give it a lingering
sense of gravitas and with a little imagination you can picture just how grand and import-
ant this city once was.
Few visitors make it here outside the summer months, and in winter your only compan-
ions will be the wind and the odd goat quietly grazing. A new visitor centre is under con-
struction near the site entrance. In the meantime, there's no entrance fee, but you should
tip the site guardian after your tour.
History
Megalithic stones found in the vicinity of Lixus suggest that the site was originally inhab-
ited by a sun-worshipping people with knowledge of astronomy and mathematics.
However, little more is known about the area's prehistory until the Phoenicians set up the
colony Liks here in about 1000 BC. According to Pliny the Elder, it was here that Her-
cules picked the golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, thus completing the pen-
ultimate of his 12 labours. The golden apples may well have been the famous Moroccan
tangerines.
In the 6th century BC the Phoenician Atlantic colonies fell to the Carthaginians. Lixus
remained a trading post, principally in gold, ivory and slaves and, by AD 42, had entered
the Roman Empire. Its primary exports soon changed to salt, olives, wine and garum (an
 
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