Volubilis is an archaeological site in Morocco situated near Meknes and features the best preserved Roman ruins in this part of northern Africa.
In antiquity, Volubilis was an important Roman town situated near the westernmost border of Roman conquests.
The Romans began building the city of Volubilis ca. 40 AD in order to keep control of this north African region which was successively occupied by the Greeks, Berbers, Jews and Carthaginian merchants.
Volubilis, with 20,000 people, was an administrative city that produced grain and olive oil.
The Romans evacuated most of Morocco at the end of the 3rd century AD but, unlike some other Roman cities, Volubilis was not abandoned.
People continued to live here for more than 1,000 years.
Volubilis continued to be inhabited and active well into the eighteenth-century, when its marble was plundered for Moulay Ismail palaces in Meknes.
Its buildings were finally felled by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755.
Than, later in the 18th century, the sultan Moulay Ismail had hundreds of stones carted away for his immense buildings in Meknes. Volubilis was finally abandoned.
Volubilis is famous especially from its mosaics, one of the chief attractions.
Made from different types of colored tile, glass and stone, they are beautifully designed, depicting animals and mythological scenes.
They lie under the open sky, unsheltered and well-preserved in surprisingly good shape and vivid colors, especially when considering these are ornamental artwork to fix up the floor!
Now many are fenced off to prevent tourists from walking over them, but they are still easy to see and photograph.
There are also plenty of bits of villa foundations, sewerage systems, olive presses etc. to add interest.


In 1997 the site was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.