Place in Fès-Meknès, Morocco
Photo: George Swann, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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A religious complex including a mosque area and mausoleum chamber with a huge green-tiled pyramidal roof. It's off limits to non-Muslims.
A mosque with the Cylindrical Minaret, allegedly the only one in Morocco. Built in 1939 by a local man after his return from the hajj in Mecca. It is now a Qur'anic school (madrasa).
Located in the southern part of the city this house takes its name from the large mosaic depicting Orpheus playing his harp to an audience of trees, animals and birds. The mosaic is situated in the triclinium, the dining room, where the diners would have reclined on couches set against the walls and admired the central mosaic. Other mosaics can be seen in the atrium, which has a depiction of Amphitrite in a chariot pulled by a seahorse and accompanied by other sea creatures, and in the bathing rooms. One room off the main courtyard has a mosaic of a dolphin, considered by the Romans to be a lucky animal.
Located near the forum, contains a humorous mosaic of an athlete or acrobat riding a donkey back to front while holding a cup in his outstretched hand. It may possibly represent Silenus. The most prestigious houses in the city were situated adjoining the Decumanus Maximus, behind rows of shops that lined the street under an arcade. They were entered from side streets between the shops.
Named after a bronze statue found there. It has a prominent interior courtyard leading to a number of public rooms decorated with mosaics, including a depiction of Bacchus in a chariot being drawn by leopards.
Next door from the house of Ephebe, this house also has a mosaic of Bacchus, this time showing coming across the sleeping Ariadne, who later bore him six children. The house takes its name from a bronze statue of a rider found here in 1918 that is now on display in the archaeological museum in Rabat.
A building dubbed the Gordian Palace is located further up the Decumanus Maximus. It was the largest building in the city and was probably the residence of the governor, rather than the emperor Gordian III; it was rebuilt during Gordian's reign in the mid-3rd century. It combined two separate houses to create a complex of 74 rooms with courtyards and private bathhouses serving both domestic and official functions. It also incorporated a colonnaded front with a dozen shops behind the colonnade, and an oil factory consisting of three oil presses and an oil store in the north-east corner of the complex. The decoration of the Gordian Palace is today quite plain with only a few scanty mosaics remaining.
The House of Venus, towards the eastern side of the city under a prominent cypress tree, was one of the most luxurious residences in the city. It had a set of private baths and a richly decorated interior, with fine mosaics dating from the 2nd century CE showing animal and mythological scenes. There were mosaics in seven corridors and eight rooms. The central courtyard has a fanciful mosaic depicting racing chariots in a hippodrome, drawn by teams of peacocks, geese and ducks. The mosaic of Venus for which the house is named has been removed to Tangier, but in the next-door room is a still-extant mosaic showing Diana and a companion nymph being surprised by Actaeon while bathing. Actaeon is depicted with horns beginning to sprout from his head as he is transformed by the angry goddess into a stag, before being chased down and killed by his own hunting dogs. The house appears to have been destroyed some time after the city's fall around 280; a mosaic depicting Cupids feeding birds with grain has been charred by what appears to have been a fire burning directly on top of it, perhaps resulting from the building being taken over by squatters who used the mosaic as the site of a hearth.
By grand taxi
Can be found in the large taxi rank opposite the French Institute (Institut Francais) in Meknes. A single seat in the grand taxi costs 12 dirham (Dec 2026) and the drive takes around 20-30 min.
By private taxi
They should be around 300-350 dirham with the driver waiting while you peruse the site.
By tour
Alternatively, there are organised coach tours running from Fez and possibly Meknes to Volubilis. Just ask your local tout.
Everything is actually walkable.4 km between Moulay Idriss and Volubilis can be covered by foot or taxi (40 dirham).
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