Fez

Today was spent traveling from Rabat to Fez, a distance of about 140 miles.  We stopped in the old city of Meknes where we saw an incredibly large granary and stables from the 17th century.  The granary was designed to store enough grain to see the area through droughts, thoughtfully designed to maximize the storage conditions. The stables were huge as well - they needed to be because they housed 12,000 horses.

After lunch we stopped at a Roman ruin that is incredibly well preserved.  Most amazing was the condition of many mosaic floors.  After dinner this evening we will be attending a show.  More about that tomorrow.

First hitng this morning we went back to Mohammad V mausoleum and went in.  Here is his sarcophagus and those of his two sons who succeeded him.

The city of Meknes is a UNESCO site.  The city walls are over 40 km long and have a number of beautiful gates.  

This is one of the main gates.

Many movies have been shot in the horse stables and granary.  This is a shot down one of the aisle of the horse stables.  The horses were allowed to run around inside of the stables since they got nervous if they were kept tied.  Imagine 12,000 horses running around in here while you tried to clean the place out!

We visited the mausoleum of  Moulay Ismail in the city.  This city was the capital of the Moulay Ismail state in the 17th century.

Although we could enter the outer rooms, only Muslims were allowed into the actual mausoleum.

This is the holiest city located in Morocco and the third holiest city in Islam.  It is the site of the tomb of Moulay Idriss who founded the city Fez as well as made this city his final "seat of power."

The Roman city of Volubilis lies just outside of the holy village of Moulay Idriss.  This city was founded by the Romans in the year 23 AD.  It grew to 20,000 - 5,000 retired Roman soldiers and 15,000 Berbers - by the year 200 AD, becoming the administrative center for the north African Roman empire.  The Roman soldiers were all recalled to Roman so that by the year 285 AD only the Berbers were left.  They converted to Christianity in the 300's and eventually left when the city as destroyed by an earthquake in the 4th century .

Many of the mosaics survive intact.  This arch was built in honor of the emperor and his mother who had granted the Berbers who remained in the city Roman citizenship.

Just through this doorway you can see the remains of a church,  This was built in about 340 when the Berbers converted to Christianity (Constantine had declared Christianity the official Roman religion).  Shortly after this the earthquake hit the city.