Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the heat of a summer day, the sun can be incredibly fierce at Volubilis, so bring a hat
and plenty of water. Spring is the ideal season, when wildflowers blossom amid the aban-
doned stones, and the surrounding fields are at their greenest. The best time to visit is
either first thing in the morning or late afternoon, when you're more likely to have the
place to yourself, with just the guardian's donkey grazing among the ruins. At dusk, when
the last rays of the sun light the ancient columns, Volubilis is at its most magical.
History
Excavations indicate that the site was originally settled by Carthaginian traders in the 3rd
century BC. One of the Roman Empire's most remote outposts, Volubilis was annexed in
about AD 40. According to some historians, Rome imposed strict controls on what could
and could not be produced in its North African possessions, according to the needs of the
empire. One result was massive deforestation and the large-scale planting of wheat around
Volubilis. At its peak, it is estimated that the city housed up to 20,000 people. The site's
most impressive monuments were built in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, including the tri-
umphal arch, capitol, baths and basilica.
As the neighbouring Berber tribes began to reassert themselves, so the Romans aban-
doned Volubilis around 280. Nevertheless, the city's population of Berbers, Greeks, Jews
and Syrians continued to speak Latin right up until the arrival of Islam. Moulay Idriss
found sanctuary here in the 8th century, before moving his capital to Fez. Volubilis contin-
ued to be inhabited until the 18th century, when its marble was plundered for Moulay Is-
mail's palaces in Meknès, and its buildings were finally felled by the Lisbon earthquake of
1755.
