From Capitals to Afterthoughts and Back Again: The Stories of Meknes & Volubilis (live walking tour)

AZDEAN: [00:00:00] Welcome back to the Destination Morocco podcast. 

Today we turn our attention to the imperial city of Meknes, a city we've only touched on briefly over the many episodes of the podcast. But as an imperial city, Meknes has a prominent place in Morocco's history, and culture, particularly as it relates to the Alawite dynasty, who continue to reign as the ruling family of Morocco today.

In the mid 17th century, the Alawites united much of modern Morocco, and Sultan Moulay Ismail chose Meknes as his capital. Over the next 50 years, he turned the city into a complex of palaces, walls, gates, squares, churches, mosques. and kasbahs. Everything was built to a monumental scale, fitting for a new imperial capital.[00:01:00]

Indeed, the Palace-Kasbah of Moulay Ismail was so vast that it later became known as the "Moroccan Versailles," which was constructed around the same time. The Jewish population, meanwhile, was given better protection with the construction of the new Mellah, right under the new palace walls, very similar to what we see in Fes.

The end of Moulay Ismail's reign, however, in 1727, led to a competition for power and eventually Meknes lost its statue of imperial capital, which moved back to Fes. Later, the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 also hit northern Morocco very hard, causing damage to Meknes that further undermined its statue and prestige.

The French colonial period led to the creation of a new, modern city of Meknes. La Ville Nouvelle, again [00:02:00] a parallel to Fes. It is only the last couple of decades that work and effort that finally been put into restoring much of the old Medina, palace, and gates of historical Meknes. It is subtle and understated city.

Some might call it a hidden treasure in Morocco. It is centrally located 235 km or 145 miles east from Casablanca, 200 km or 120 miles south of Chefchaouen and only 63 km or 40 miles west from making it an easy day trip from there. 

Our episode today featured an excerpt from the walking tour Sam and I did in Meknes last summer when I visited Morocco.

We had a fabulous local guide, Abdullatif, who spoke excellent English and had a deep knowledge of history and details [00:03:00] throughout the old city. Abdullatif tells us about the interconnected nature of the Medina, which contains more than 10, 000 houses. When we talk about the Medina, we're talking about old downtown, so it is the oldest part of the city.

In fact, the Medina of Meknes is now considered full, with no more room for expansion. Muslims, Jews, and Christians each have their own sections, but in the area so tightly contained, they would learn to live and work together. He tells us the history of the Mellah, the Jews who settled here dating back to the 15th century, and how although the population has dwindled, these days their ancestors come back to visit and retrace ancient footsteps.

We explore Bab Al Khmeis, one of the monumental entrances to the Medina, decorated with intricate [00:04:00] calligraphy. Abdullatif translates it for us and explain why is it called the "Happy gate." We then visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, which include a mosque, prayer space, madrasa, and a library. In addition to other leaders and notable figures, even distant relatives to the Alawite dynasty from around the world, no matter their current wealth or status can be buried here, thanks to their royal ancestry.

The Meknes tour in today's episode is not all. We have an extra bonus for you. Because, scarcely a 30 minute drive north of Meknes are the Roman ruins of Volubilis one of the must see highlights in Morocco. It is an easy day trip from Meknes, or even Fes, and well worth the stop. Volubilis is one of the most extensive and detailed Roman ruins [00:05:00] outside of Europe, and was a major center in its own right from the 1st century AD until around 285, when it was captured by the local tribes.

The city remained vibrant for centuries after, but by the 11th century, Volubilis was abandoned, although its structures remained quite intact. Our infamous earthquake of 1755 put an end to that though, toppling most of what was left, with the stone and marble looted and taken to Meknes. Within 100 years, people have all but forgotten where Volubilis even was.

Fortunately, archaeologists rediscovered it in the late 19th century, and today, Volubilis is an important site that gives a detailed glimpse into Roman life 2000 years ago. When you visit, a local guide will be available [00:06:00] to interpret the ruins, without whom you would only see stacks of rock and stones.

The guides bring to life the daily existence of the inhabitants of Volubilis, where they ate, bathed, worshipped, and traded. Khaled was our guide in Volubilis and although he talks quite fast, it's only because he is so motivated and excited to show us the site. Khaled described the architecture mosaic, olive presses, and more with fine detail and precision.

We'll be doing more episodes on Meknes and Volubilis coming up soon to give you more ideas that you can add to your itinerary and history to look for when you come visit either Meknes or Volubilis now let's head to the Medina and explore the imperial city of Meknes. 

Abdellatif: There is about 10 kilometers of walls and gates. Now do we have the walls, the ramparts, and we have the gates. we have small gates, we have a large gate and big gates, [00:07:00] because you enter the Medina only from several gates. even for example, nowadays, if you have a car, you cannot go in the Medina with the car.

So you leave it outside the walls in a parking. So you have to move because Medinas are free from car traffic. Okay, so that this is why that we enter the Medina. You start to have a labyrinth series of the alley ways, and this is the serpentine movement. How you are normally making a labyrinth inside such a place.

Uh, but if you look at the Medinas like this, normally the Medinas are representing what is historical, what is traditional, and what is, uh, indigenous This is something to do with the native. It is something in market like a multicultural society. Amazigh or the Berber. We have what we call also the Andalusian.

We have also called the Arab. So it is representing what is Islamic, but there is different ethnic groups and even the Jewish in a time used to have their own districts and neighborhoods. Before we are going to cross later to see the Malah, but before the Malah, we have districts and areas where the Jewish were living within the Medina.

So also the Christian, you have a number of their own buildings, [00:08:00] historical buildings, but particularly that house or that convent, that monastery, This is called the Francisca Nance School and this is the place where a lot of women inside the Medina have learned quite a lot of skills. in embroidery, design, paramedical, education.

So they have a lot of disciplines where the nuns have taught, especially, especially to women. But also we find something, because it is Islamic area, we talk also about Islamic gardens. So that we have an Islamic garden in the outside, even though that it was done by the French. The type of the French, the Islamic garden are different from the English type of garden.

Because here we have also theater, we have a zoo, we have a place for the picnics. We have a lot of the things to do with the culture of the Islamic culture in general. So, uh, in brief, this is a UNESCO heritage. There is more than 10, 000 houses there. There's a great number of old buildings, which we call sometimes a riad, Andar, or a big house.

We have also the people are living quite together. This is a place for commerce and artisanal work. [00:09:00] this is a place for living, and also for working, and also for practicing different other functions, like relation, education, and artisan work in general. So this is particularly one of the facets, one of the importance, one of the functions of our historical medinas, and it is a particular example which we have here.

That's one thing I will say, that if the medina look from a high distance, it seems like a beehive, because all the houses are interconnected with each other. But this is that all the honey is inside, not outside. Because normally you can see nothing from the outside only when you are discovering the luxury.

Which means that we talk about inward focus. We focus mainly in the interior of the building. And we have later a good example when we go to see the mosque and the mausoleum, to see how a mausoleum, a shrine, a palace, normally is developed from the interior of the building. So what we'll do later, we are going to cross all these walls.

We go outside, we see an extension of the outside, because the Medina now is limited. There is no more space for building more houses within. Then we see also [00:10:00] extra buildings with the other gate, before getting to the Jewish area, which we call the Mellah. From the Mellah, there is another area leading directly to the fortress, which is the Kasbah.

And we can see that either the Kasbah, the Medina, or the Jewish area are separate, but they are in continuous relation when they get to the center, which means that every community have its own separate area from the other. Then we have to see, later we'll go back to the same square, if you are interested, to go to see also the market area, part of the Medina, and also one of the museums of the city of Meknes.

 Jewish area, and now they are still continuing the restoration. The restoration had started in 2019, but you know what happened in 2019, there is the COVID, so they have to stop almost one year and a half. And now they are only continuing the restoration and work, which is totally difficult, especially that this is a UNESCO heritage.[00:11:00]

And whenever there is a UNESCO heritage, UNESCO is all the time asking to pay attention not to change, not to modernize. And you have even to go very slowly, even in the architecture and designing. In order not to change anything about the spirit, you have to keep the spirit, the same authenticity, it is what is important about such building.

the old millah, the old Jewish quarter. This is dating back to the 15th century, when the Jewish were settled for the first time over there, after coming from the Medina. And who granted this land is the Sultan, because the Sultan wanted to approach them, to get them too near to his palace hill.

either for protection or because the Jewish were all the time involved in many other special political and commercial activities for the Sultan himself. Then when the Jewish start to grow in the numbers, so they have a second Malach, which started from 1912 to 1920, which is also during the colonial period, because the number of the Jewish before 1948 was almost [00:12:00] 25, 000 Jewish living only in Meknes.

And we used to have one of the best organized Jewish community, even of rabbis, because we have a lot of Jewish schools and synagogues, which happened to be here from the 15th century forward. We saw that Meknes was in a time one of the most important residential area of a lot of the Jewish. And by the way, when we talk about the Jewish in Morocco, we talk also about the Toshavim, which are the Jewish who came from Palestine after the destruction of the temple.

Then also we talk about the Migorashim, the one who came from Spain. And this is the name given to them is Sefaradu, Sefaradik. So that this is the Sefaradik, uh, largely living here. And they are totally from the other European or, uh, East Europe, Austro Europe, uh, Jewish called Ashkenazi. So this is the particularity of Morocco that they have one of the best, one of the most important, one also of the most, um, historical Jewish communities as they live right here.

Uh, by the way, we have the Mallah, this is leading almost directly to the old one. Let's go to the shade, [00:13:00] and we can see even better. They're just now preparing to open the gates, but they have not as yet finished. The name of this gate is Bab ElKhamis. Bab ElKhamis, meaning Thursday Gate. 

SAM: Why they name it Bab ElKhamis?

Abdellatif: Even in Marrakech there is Thursday Gate, there is also in Fez. Khamis is a very special day for the Jewish and the Muslim, because it has a religious connotation, a reference. Bab ElKhamis. Because normally the Jewish prepare for the Sabbath from Thursday. Because on Friday they used to go to the cemetery to light the candle, and then they have to visit the cemeteries over there and to visit their tzaddikim, which is the rabbis.

The Muslims do the same thing because the Muslims prepare for Friday, Jumu'ah, it is like the Muslim Sabbath, it have to, which means Muslim and Jewish have to come on Thursday. And see the reason that they say that the Jewish and the Muslims should not be seen in the market between Friday and Saturday, and they need to come on Thursday.

And this is one particular evident reason that they call the Jewish area or the gates as Bab ElKhamis. [00:14:00]

SAM: So there was, there was market. 

Abdellatif: There was a market day, a market. Every Thursday. Yeah, every Thursday. Because this is, because normally, you know, the Jewish have to prepare for a food. It is called the Sabbath meal.

And the Sabbath meal have to be prepared. You have to buy the meat and you have everything. And it's very special because you know also that the Jewish don't, uh, don't cook on the Sabbath, which means that they have to prepare. The Muslim do, they cook, but the Muslim also go to the cemeteries, which means that there is some shared tradition between the Jewish.

Even though the Jewish millah is there, it is only particularly to preserve their culture, their history, their education, and a lot of things to do with the Jewish custom. But otherwise, the Jewish can move from the millah to the medina and elsewhere. which means that this is how there is coexisting and there is total tolerance between Muslim and Jewish all together.

So also one thing I would like to explain that there is a text because Islam normally they don't use iconography, but they don't use statues, but use calligraphy. I'd explain what is written there. It is in Al Bab I am the Happy Gate, [00:15:00] open to all the people either from the Orient or from the Occident. I am the Happy Gate, similar to my beauty to the full moon on the sky.

I was built by Moula Ismail because it is dating back to the 17th century. The prosperity and the fortune are written on my friends. I am surrounded with beauty. This shows that calligraphy, floral design, and this is also the other motif of, uh, of, uh, cemeteries and design. These are part of the Islamic art.

This is why that the facade of the gate, it is quite similar to the interior decoration of buildings from the inside. We have what is floral, what is digital, what is epigraphic, and what is geometrical. All the elements, especially when they are using the Moroccan tiles and the Moroccan gelige on the Moroccan mosaics in the outside.

Let's go a little bit inside it and we go from the other side. Just one thing here, just to see that once we move from Bab al Khamees, the Jewish area, we enter automatically to the Jewish place, which is called the Malah. And the Malah is a name which is shared to all the Jewish quarters in all Morocco.

You can [00:16:00] even to small villages in the Sahara in desert, we find called also the Malah. We don't know exactly, but probably the Malah, it is something to do with the activities of the Jewish, probably salting fruit, salting many other time vegetable, and it is mainly naming, it is in Hebrew, it is called salt.

But many others say that probably it could be as a Hebrew name, it mean Ahl Malah, which mean the people of religion. And this is something to do with Islamic, the Muslim now, that you have to protect even the Jewish place. They say, according to the prophet, that you have to respect all the other religion, and all the other civilization, and all the other culture.

It's why they say Ahl Mallah, means the people of religion, and they are all the time required the respect and the protection from the other. And it's why the name is still seen in such a way, in such a manner. In this part of the Mallah, we have the old Mallah, where now no Jewish are living there. But only we have traces of old synagogues and the places where the Jewish have their own trade and their commerce.

Largely, now the population who have been the houses are Muslim families. [00:17:00] But the good thing that now Jewish are coming from Israel, they're coming from South America, and they have their ancestors who have already lived there in a certain time. But he explains something very good that the Muslim there are ready to open their houses to the new visitor, because the people are claiming that to see where their ancestors had lived and what type of activities they were entertaining, where they were populating largely the Mela'a.

But look at this side here of the new Mela'a is totally different, because it is more modern as a quarter. This is a new quarter if we compare it to the old Malah. Because this is starting, the first houses here start in 1920. The first synagogue is 1930. And also we have Talmud Torah, which is a very important yeshiva school.

Yeshiva in the Jewish means a school for the teaching of Torah and Talmud, like a high college. When you are moving from the medrassa, as we call it, which is a small area for teaching. Like the Muslim use Quranic school. You go from the Quaranic school to [00:18:00] the Yeshiva School and Yeshiva, it is where you start to learn something about the Talmud and the Torah studies.

Then you are preparing yourself to become a rabbi. See, this is why they see that the Torah, Meknes was an area for the masters of the Torah in Morocco. So also you can see the small balconies because they see that the first families to use balconies were Jewish. Moroccan architecture is protecting more intimacy and privacy, so they don't make balconies outside, but they make them inside.

So it is quite easily, you can quite distinguish where the Jewish are living, from where the Muslim are living. That's by the type of the building, the construction, and the presence of balconies in the outside facade of their houses and their own building. It means that this is how the modern architecture started to be introduced, especially during the colonial period, when the French were here.

And by the way, in 1990, we still have only 400 Jewish still living here. 400 in 1990. because slowly, [00:19:00] slowly, they start to go to Israel, to South America, and elsewhere. They start to be called by international organization. This is why the Moroccan never like that the Jewish leave.

Because the departure of the Jewish mean an economic crisis. Because they were holding most of the business, and most of the culture, and probably they had also, this is something to prove, that they have the best education as well. And this is the reason that they were so near to the Sultan, and they were having a lot of businesses all around.

But taking their business, uh, emptying the Mellah, means a big crisis to be happening, to the Moroccan in a certain time or a certain period. Actually, we don't have more than 20 Jewish still living here. Persons, not families. Which means that we have only about seven or ten families still living here.

The only good thing that now we have, we have families are coming back to visit in a Hilula. A Hilula means a or a festival. And we have a lot of rabbis, very important, like Berdigo. This is Raphael Berdigo is buried in the old cemetery, in the historical [00:20:00] cemetery. It is a very famous man and a master of the Torah.

Quite known all over Israel, and now they are coming even to visit his tombs here, but we have another family It's called the Toledano. The Toledano, but the Toledano are not much released, but they are more business So they have a lot of business in Morocco This is the Toledano family and we still have a lot of members in the community of the Israelites, especially what we call the Universal Alliance Schools. Alliance School, Universal Alliance Schools. Because we know that the Jewish at the time, the separate man from women in education. And that even women don't get educated like probably the Muslims were doing.

But later with the French, when they come, they start to establish modern schools, and they are called Alliance Universal, Israelite schools. And the women start to come to the school to study. This is why largely how the women, the Israelite women, start to have their share and part of education. And it's quite famous now because still we have these schools here in the Mellah. Nothing has changed because still we have synagogues, even though they are closed. [00:21:00] We still have the patrimony, the cultural heritage, the Jewish heritage is very visual, which means that it's still very important and it's still largely existing right here. 

AZDEAN: Question, you said Hilula. 

Abdellatif: Hilula. 

AZDEAN: Is it celebrated anywhere else in the north or just in Morocco?

Abdellatif: No, it is around, but normally, particularly the word Hilula is a Hebrew word, means a festival. What we know that they have also Hilula in, in Tunisia. Because you go to Carthage, they have also Indahara, because the Jewish call them Indahara. Because the Hilula, it is something, normally it is a Maghribin. We can call it North African.

Because the Jews of Israel, the Jews and But probably if it is a Hilula, probably could do it also in Poland, they can do it something, but the word could be just a little bit. But the Hilula is a very important, nowadays, we still have a lot of Jews coming every year. But in separate times, because they go also to Wazan, they go also to Titouan, they go also to Tangier, they go to Rabat, because there is a lot of Tzadikim.

But largely also in Fez and Marrakech, because there is more than 600 jewish rabbis are buried in these cemeteries. [00:22:00] Meknes, we have a very important, also a number of these tzaddikim in Meknes. 

SAM: There is, uh, Helula and there is Hanukkah. 

Abdellatif: Uh, Hanukkah, Hanukkah is, Hanukkah, Helula is the name of the Muslim.

It is, like, all Muslim. But Hanukkah is a festival, like we see, for example, the end of Ramadan, for example, for us. It is Hanukkah. We can call it Sukkot, there is Kappur, there is Yom Kappur, there is here. There is a, there is like also Mimouna, you can see Mimouna, for example, these are festivals. Which means that there are times, Hanukkah, it is like a time for celebration, like Passover also, which is coming in a certain period of time.

Which means that there 

are religious festivals, the name of the religious festival celebrated by the Jewish community in Morocco. 

This is a prayer hall. And, uh, most of the, of the masjid, or masjid is a place for the prayer, for prostration. They have most equated the [00:23:00] model of Qortoba mosques, or Damascus mosques.

They are called T form, T form or hypostyle, because they have a large open area. They have a mihrab, which is shown in the eastern direction. And then we have another covered area, which is now a funeral complex. When we are going to go inside, we find where the sultan was buried, and a shrine. The mausoleums normally existed thousands of years ago with our civilization.

I give examples of the pyramids in Egypt and with the pharaohs. These are called also mausoleums. Then we talk also about the Taj Mahal, you know, Taj Mahal in India, with Mumtaz Mahal, when her husband, when she died, her husband wanted to bury her in a very lavish and elegant area. Then we were to talk also about the King Mausoli, Mausolis, it is a Greek, when he died his wife also loved him, she asked her to order that his body should be buried in a high elevated area.

And his name is called Mausolis, this is the name, the source of the name later developed. Which means that Moroccan as a culture, we are honoring and cherishing deeply the memory of [00:24:00] our leaders. Either we have political, or even very simple, because you know that we have a lot of patron saints. A lot of Zoes in Morocco. And there is a very famous person even buried here.

I don't know. We know Ab Al. Yes, AB Al is buried there on the right. It is there. This ab Hamal AB is a poet, mystic poet and is a Sophie and is like the ROI in, in, in Turkey, the Rome oral Ab Rome is there. Moulay Ismail wanted to be buried next to him. Because he was buried, this one, in the 15th century. Moula Ismail was buried only on the, uh, 18th century.

So that he want his tomb to be there for protection. So that is the reason that we have a lot of Sufi brotherhood and tombs This is the official sanctuary where the Sultan is buried. But we have the funeral chamber is over there. We have just another place here where the people can pray, because there is a mihrab.

Because when the people make a visit, they also come to pray as well. Sometimes individual, sometimes collective. But now [00:25:00] we don't make collective prayers, everyone comes to pray individually, different from the other. Also, this is a place for education and learning. It's a place for reciting the Koran and learning to memorize the Koran.

Because we have a third room from the other side which is serving like a school, or like, for example, called Medrassa. But it is masjid, but it is also Quranic school, but they have also a library or a cabinet for books. And also the place which is a little bit rectangular, where the imams are sitting on Friday.

On the top of them, there is like the genealogical tree to represent the origin of this dynasty which is Sherifian. When we call Sherifian, they are claiming back to the Prophet of Islam, which means that everything about their origin, from the king, Mohammed VI, back to the Prophet, is written there. It's the reason that we call the king the commander in chief in religion, or the command, Amir Muminin.

That this is why we see the double function of the Sultan, between what is political, as a ruler, as a leader, but it is also, it is also the [00:26:00] head of the state in what concerns religion. Because of his serifian birth and noble origin. Also the decoration here is sometimes making a reflection to what is Andalusian, Andalusian or Moorish.

So when you see the Moorish, they are the Moors who came from here and they go to Spain and come back. So this is the time when a lot of the Andalusian normally were rejected and they were expelled. This is why the architecture here is quite reminiscent of what we find in the south of Spain, in Andalusia, in the other Andalusian provinces.

That we find also the beauty of the marble, the carved marble, we find the julete, we find the plaster, and all the noble materials are used around, that should make a beautiful interior design. The fountain in the middle, is very special. Which is also, this is oblong, which is, octagonal, all the time it is only decorative. But sometimes the water is gushing to show that the motion, when the water is gushing in motion, means the dynamic of life. Which means that you come to wash, to clean, and to detach yourself, and to bring the energy for [00:27:00] meditation. So you see the purpose of having water almost everywhere when we come right here.

It is religious, but it is artistic and aesthetic at the same time. But look, look, look here, you see the columns, we have 12. But on the top, this one is more Andalusian, like a palm, palm or palmette. The design motif is different. But if you look at these two in the middle, they are more Corinthian in design, which means that we have artisans, we have workers, we have architects, we have different origins, and you see the reflection of art and design, as Morocco was open to different influences.

 multitude of influences we find especially in the architectural, products which we see so often in many type of the buildings. But look also here that we have also the plaster work. The plaster work, it is plaster, but sometimes it is stucco. And stucco is only the powder of the marble mixed with lime.

It takes the higher position, but it also makes the carving of the friezes in certain parts of the building. And so often it is used also for other decoration of stalactites and [00:28:00] stalagmites. So these are also other designs which have other geometrical and floral motifs in the architecture. Then we have also in the cover, everything is covered from the top because cedar wood is above eye level.

We use it to the door, of course, but we use it on the ceiling. This is why we say above eye level, you have to look up in order to see the cedar. Either in the galleries, or the rooftop, or the canopies, this is the importance of the decoration used, especially with carving cedar wood. And wood is carved and painted and sculpted in the same time.

So that the doorways here, and also we can see that over there, there are graves, over there behind, there are graves. On Friday, all the families who have members buried here, they can come, so they open this door for them. It is only on Friday, because here they come just to pay homage and they have to make a visit, like we do normally in other cemeteries for our members of the family.

But these are more, not only royal, but these only sometimes have affiliation. They have some origin, they are going back [00:29:00] to where the sultan was living. And Meknes is no wonder, because Meknes was the center of the Alawites at the beginning, and we have very extended families, which means that we have a lot of descendants which are still living here, even though that many of them are very poor, they are not rich.

But still they are called Alawites, and could have a right to be buried once they die in such a place.

AZDEAN: At this point, we head up the road from Meknes to Volubilis and join our local guide Khalid as he escorts us from the side entrance along winding gravel pathway with the impressive ruins on the hill over to our left.

We enter along the former main street and immediately head for the ancient basilica, the Roman Forum and later the Triumph Arc and residential quarters. Imagine walking through the dining rooms, [00:30:00] kitchens, and bedrooms of a Roman family of two thousand years ago. Picture the mosaics on the floor, and the statues of gods and myths that's still watching over those houses to this day.

Imagine the history that has taken place here, which makes Meknes feel like a modern, recent built city. This is the experience of Volubilis. Let's start our tour. 

Khalid: When the Romans conquered North Africa, they first built cities on the coast, like Tangier, like Rabat on the Atlantic. When the Romans came so far inland, the major reason was to grow wheat, vineyards. I'm sure when you were driving here, you've seen also many olive trees. So North Africa 2, 000 years ago was much more green and lush.

And, in this trip, you will also hear much of the big earthquake. that destroyed so many places in Morocco, including Volubilis. But the epicenter of the earthquake [00:31:00] was Lisbon in Portugal, by the way. The fault line was huge, maybe as big as the one in California called the San Andreas. And just to excavate what we see now, it took archaeologists almost 50 years, but the biggest part is yet to be excavated.

Of course, archaeologists are still expecting to find more. They still expect to find the Colosseum. They still expect to find the arena, maybe Hippodrome. And at its height, when the Romans were here, the size of the population was almost 25 up to 30, 000 people. was for sure quite a bigger size. Yeah. 25, 000 people living here was quite a big size.

Khalid: Most of the stone they were using, was locally quarried from the quarry up there. Except for the marble which the Romans brought from Italy, from Carrara. And maybe people who live in that village are still using [00:32:00] some springs the Romans were using back then. So they for sure had enough water.

As you know, the Romans never choose places by chance. If they were here, this must have been for good reason. I came, I saw, then I conquered. Vini, Vidi, Vici. Almost everything was, leveled, was destroyed. So most of what we see now standing has been dug up and reconstructed again based on some sketches and drawings archaeologists did before the earthquake.

Like the columns inside the temple, as well as the basilica, the triumphal arch And all the outskirts are still buried, so archaeologists, of course, are still expecting to find more. And it's a chance that Volubilis has been now listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so for sure there is a big chance to get more findings, hopefully.

No, this was a temple. Yes. The main [00:33:00] God the Romans were worshiping was called Jupiter. It's like Zeus for the Greeks. And that's why we have the sacrificial altar right in the middle. For animals only. Unlike Inca, Maya, who did the maybe human sacrifice. But when the Romans did convert into Christianity, that's how the Basilica, We're going to see on that side, was repurposed as a Christian church.

But the temple here is a pagan temple and it's much older. You can enjoy the view up there before we continue. Basilica is the Roman name for the church. And, uh, the architecture of the basilica or any church is often with apses on this side. It's like a semicircle. And baptism in the middle. because it was done by total immersion.

Okay. the temple we saw behind had the sacrificial altar in the middle. 

AZDEAN: There's areas where they, they used to raise fish. 

Khalid: Yeah. 

AZDEAN: Um, there's area where they, they bathe. 

Khalid: Yes, we're going to see [00:34:00] some public baths on the way indeed. And olive oil was a big industry. We're going to see some olive oil presses on the way as well.

Almost like today. Meknes, Fez are still famous for wine production and olive oil production since the Roman time even. 

AZDEAN: And I have a quick question. 

Yes. We say volibilis, we say walili, we say many things. What does it mean? The name originated originally from? 

Khalid: Both Volubilis and Walili are names of oleander as a flower.

The Romans, yes, called the city here Volubilis in Latin. But when the Romans left, the local people kept the same name and they called this place Walili because the Berber name of the flower is Alili. 

Flower. 

Yeah. So even the locals give the same name. So it's named after Oleander, or Alili. A, uh, Roman house like this is like a Moroccan riad.

Both have a central quarter called Atrium. And normally this [00:35:00] part in the middle of the house was open. for ventilation. And when it rains, that's where they catch the rain, like, like a cistern. Like a Moroccan riad with a water fountain, with an ortical garden. And the pillars, you see, were supporting the roofs.

The roofs were made of cedar wood. Look at the cedar forests. The Romans were very smart. They choose a place so close to the cedar forest, as you mentioned, so close to the water springs, and for sure good land for farming. Yes. As you say back home, location, location and location. Yeah, Look how beautiful are the pillars.

Look at the twisted style. Can you just imagine how people could cut, chisel one big block and it's one piece. 

Most of the pillars you see in Hassan maybe originates from volubilis. Because after the earthquake, the local people for sure took a lot of stone material from here to be recycled in Meknes also in [00:36:00] Rabat. That's why many columns are missing here. The god of the wine, whose name is Bacchus. 

AZDEAN: Say that again. 

Khalid: Bacchus is the Roman name. 

AZDEAN: Bacchus. 

Khalid: Bacchus is the Roman name for the god of the wine, and that's why his head is often ornate with the leaves of grape. 

AZDEAN: Grapes? 

Khalid: Yes. His head, it's decorated with the leaves of grapes. And when he finds Ariadne lying on the beach in one of the islands in Greece, that's where he falls in love with her and finds her with the help of the Cupid.

The little angel in the middle, which is Eroso Amor, that's a cupid. This is also for bathing, like a spa. And people again would sit in little niches with a water spring in the middle. And again, the water they were using here was naturally hot. We're talking about extremely rich families who could afford to have big and luxurious houses With a spa, with a koi pond.[00:37:00]

That's where they keep fish just for decoration. As I mentioned earlier this part in the middle of the house was open for ventilation and That's why we have this big water cistern called Impluvium And the word Impluvium comes from Pluie. 

AZDEAN: Rain. 

Khalid: Or rain, yeah. Or Yubia. And, uh, to impress guests, we have maybe the best preserved mosaic floor in the dining room.

This means that this was, one of the wealthiest families, again. And again, we have the god of the wine. leaning on that stone right in the middle. One lady. is playing to him with a tambourine. Another lady is playing with a flute and at the top with a harp. These women you see with the god of the wine are called the muses.

AZDEAN: The muses? 

Khalid: Yes, one muse or many muses. that's for music and entertainment. That's why these women were called the muses because they were known to sing. [00:38:00] The Greek name of Bacchus, the god of the wine, is Dionysos, that's the Greek name. You can see in the middle of the street, how deep is the sewer system.

I mentioned aqueducts earlier, but in the middle of the street, the sewer system would empty down into the river. Can you just imagine 2, 000 years ago, cities having such an infrastructure of roads, aqueducts, sewage. These people were so advanced. You can imagine the street with all the shops on each side.

Those were all small shops having arches and the colonnades. And all that part where the shops were was like a covered walkway, like a mall. So the arch we saw there, that was the city center, and look at the exit on the other side. And because Volubili started as a military outpost at the top of these mountains, the Romans had watchtowers, they could really see the enemy coming.[00:39:00]

So it started as a military outpost and it definitely turned into a trading center. Yeah. 

AZDEAN: These brief excerpts are just a taste of what you can learn and experience on a local tour, which is why we always make sure you have an experienced, certified local guide when you visit Morocco with us.

These guides are the experts. Their wealth of knowledge comes from knowing their city like the back of their hand and ensuring you have an educational and memorable visit. Without local guides, a gate is just a gate, a house is just a house, and a stream name has no meaning. You will get so much more out of your time when you know the stories and explanations behind the sites you're seeing.

And we'll continue to do our part here at Destination Morocco podcast. [00:40:00] Meknes has a lot more to explore, from restaurants to riads, festivals to modern sites, so we'll have more to share with you soon. Thank you so much for joining us today for this episode, and we will see you soon again.