North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (9) World Heritage Site - Volubilis

North Africa Morocco Tunisia Tour (9) World Heritage Site - Volubilis Chefchaouen - Meknes December 15, 2024 Sunny to cloudy, 8-18 degrees. A long drive of more than three and a half hours in the morning, arriving at the seventh stop - Meknes area in the afternoon. First visit Volubilis. Volubilis is known for its well-preserved Roman ruins (Figure 1) and was listed as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1997. It is an ancient city from the 3rd century BC and the westernmost military stronghold of the Roman Empire. Volubilis was originally settled by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. Under the expansion of the Roman Empire, it became an important city in the westernmost part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD, reaching its peak in the 2nd century, with the construction of many large public buildings, such as the Arch of Triumph (Figure 2), built in 217 AD, which is a landmark building in Volubilis; the public baths (Figure 3) show the luxurious life of the ancient Romans; and the exquisite mosaic floors (Figure 4) show the artistic level of the ancient times. After the third century, Volubilis gradually lost its importance for administrative and military reasons and was finally abandoned in the eighth century. More than a thousand years later, although the magnificent buildings of the past have become ruins in the smoke of the wind, the ancient city, in addition to the above-mentioned, also has the Tangier Gate (Figure 5), the Temple (Figure 6), the Council Hall (Figure 7), the Court (Figure 8), the Reservoir (Figure 9), etc., which are still faintly visible and are important archaeological sites for the study of ancient Roman life in North Africa.