It was an early start this morning, as we had a lot to pack into our last day. We sat upstairs on the terrace for breakfast, gazing out over the ancient tombs, when all of a sudden a small flock of storks flew over head. We hadn't seen any evidence of them during our three days in Fez, but there they were as we were about to leave!
Not long after heading off we saw one standing sentry on a tree!
We saw stork's nests on street lights & then this one on the MIDDLE chimney of the house. Rather wise to have more than one chimney!! We learned that it is considered good luck if a stork makes it's nest on your roof! Hmmmmm...not so sure I'd feel that way!!
Our first destination for the day, was the ancient Roman city of Volubilis.
Jeff has an interest in all things Roman, so this was HIS day! Volubilis was settled in the 3rd century BC & remained a Roman settlement until the 3rd century AD, when Rome withdrew from Mauretania. It was then lived in by Christians before the Muslims by 788AD.
We decided not to hire a guide, as Jeff had done a lot of reading up on the site & was quite confident that he could play that role today. The sun was blazing, but it was still thoroughly wonderful to wander around this ancient city. There were a number of mosaics, this one of Diana & the bathing Nymphs being our favourite. Sadly all of these mosaics are exposed to the elements, covered in dust & not well protected from visitors, so goodness knows how many more years they will survive.
Which of these columns is not like the others?????? Aside from the storks nest, this photo makes clearly evident the quality of 'restoration' work the French did to the site in the early 20th century!!
Back on the road again, we passed this incredible mobile phone tower which has clearly become a Hotel for storks!!!
Next stop was Meknes, where we couldn't visit the Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail as it is Friday (Holy Day for Muslims), but we could admire the splendid gates to the city.
Another incredible piece of architectural planning was Heri es-Souani, which were HUGE grain stores with barrel vaulted ceilings. With very thick walls & the clever use of water , which was collected in a pool-like area, the temperature was kept low & consequently food could be stored well for longer.
From Meknes we headed on towards Rabat, passing cork trees along the way. Notice the bark stripping on the base of the trunk.
Arrival in Rabat was overwhelming because of the maelstrom of traffic. Not something we'd had much of in the medina of Fez! We had a quick look at the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. It was stunningly decorated inside & out & we were fascinated to read that it had been designed by a Vietnamese architect!
Outside the Mausoleum, was a large plaza covered in marble columns & the Hassan Tower. These were the remains of what was to have been a magnificent Mosque, destined to rival that of Cordoba in Spain. Alas, it was never finished & all but the Minaret (&columns) were destroyed in an earthquake in 1755.
Battling the traffic again, our next destination was Chellah Necropolis, an ancient walled burial site. Before that it was a Roman City.
It then became a Mosque & burial site. Currently it is the home of up to 70 storks. How many stork nests can you find in this photo??
From one walled city to another, our last stop for the day was Kasbah Oudaia, a fortified area on a promontory looking out over the Atlantic. This was initially the home of warriors placed here to protect the city from invaders. It later became the home of pirates who pillaged the seas for Europeans to capture & sell on as slaves or ransom.
The buildings were white with stunning blue doors.
From the exterior walls, there is a magnificent view out over the harbour, where the colour blue decorates the boats.
It was a packed but enjoyable day. Rachid had made every effort to make sure that we saw as much as possible before leaving Morocco tomorrow. We felt very fortunate!
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