Hello, followers. I'm back again with a short dispatch about last weekend's post-Christmas visit to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, near the royal city of Meknes. (Loyal readers will recall that Meknes is the city in which I and my fellow companions witnessed a vicious catfight between a man's mistress and his wife/family.) No fights this time! It was just a quick, mild-mannered journey by train to another Ibis hotel (conveniently located next to a McDonalds), another evening of English-language news, the deeply appreciated comfort of my very own hotel room, and then a private ride by taxi to Volubilis.
The area surrounding Fes, Meknes and Volubilis (in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains) is some of the prettiest in Morocco. Recent torrential rainfall has made everything particularly verdant and beautiful. Naturally, the taxi driver was careening toward Volubilis at breakneck speed, waving off potential customers, because mine was a private trip (costing about $45); this picture was the best I could get given how much I needed my hands to hold on for dear life!
Volubilis dates from the third century BC, and was inhabited by Mauritanians of the Roman empire until about the third century AD. (You may recall that the current nation of Mauritania is just to the south of Algeria, southeast of Morocco.) After the Roman Empire faded, Christians wandered in, and finally, Muslims, from about 700 to 1100 AD. After that, it was abandoned as people moved to Fes or Meknes, from which the various the Moroccan dynasties ruled.
The picture at the top of this post shows a closeup of a mosaic from the House of the Cortege of Venus. The picture just above shows a wide shot of about half of the city, with the Triumphal Arch on the left; in the center, the remaining structure of a wall that lined the main street (the Decumanas Maximus); and in the foreground the remains of the House of the Golden Coins.
This is the entrance way of the House of Columns, which was in the aristocratic section of town, and which featured a grand reception area as well as a huge courtyard and pool (to entertain company, I guess).
On the other end of Volubulis are the Basilica (from which the Senate governed), the Capitol (where religious rites honoring Jupiter, Juno and Minerva were performed for the public) and the marketplace. I should mention that along many of the roads in Volubilis (and into some of the houses), one can see remnants of a very sophisticated aqueduct and sewage system.
My friend Kristine is a rug buff, and she will be interested to know that the beautiful geometric patterns found in the mosaics at Volubilis are actually still found in Morocco; they are now seen in wool rugs woven by Berber craftspeople of the various mountain regions.
Although it might look in my pictures that I was alone at Volubilis, there were a number of tourist buses there, as well as roaming school children on a field trip. Notice that the girls are not wearing hijabs, or head coverings; here in Morocco, girls are usually about 14 years old or so when they decide whether they will commit to wearing the hijab whenever they are in public. (It is not worn inside the home unless unrelated men are in the house.) Here at our home base in Rabat, the women who work in the house wear theirs at all times because men work here, too, who are not related to them. The hijab is quite interesting, culturally. Although many women here in Morocco do wear the hijab (with some covering their faces as well), many women in cities do not. There is absolutely no stigma, in educated circles, with wearing or not wearing the hijab, as it is considered a personal choice. In conservative regions of the country, however, it is expected, and somewhat scandalous to go bareheaded. Yet again, in some educational settings, such as engineering schools at universities, or in military or police training, women are prohibited from wearing the hijab. Hmmmm...I have lots of information here, but no real understanding!
So this report brings me up to date on my travels thus far. I have one more weekend (and it's a long one, because of the New Year's Day holiday), so I'm thinking I will travel to the magical beach town of Essaouira (where Jimi Hendrix partied, and where craftspeople specialize in inlaid wood) and the resort city of Agadir (where the fat white tourists go to get thin and tanned). I think I must give up my hopes of going to the mystical mountain town of Chefchouen, because heavy rain is forecast again for the already-drenched region, and I'm afraid that whatever cheap hotel I select will fall away in a mudslide!
More soon! I still want to share some interesting tidbits of what I've seen with everyone (not directly related to a specific location), so I may be over-blogging this week and next. Please forgive my enthusiasm!
B'salaamah.
