We left Chefchaouen and drove to the 2000 year old Roman ruins at Volubilis.

Remarkably, the mosaic floors were still intact and preserved in situ, out in the open air!  Some of the olive and cypress trees are over a thousand years old.

The Romans constructed this wealthy town to grow wine, wheat, and olives for the empire, and it was home to 20,000 people. It was near a river that was used to transport these goods back to Rome. The town had plumbing, baths, olive presses, a triumphal arch, and even a basilica. It seemed the standard of living was pretty good, based on how many homes had gorgeous floors.

The Roman town was left standing in great condition until the 1755 earthquake, when it fell to the condition we see today, however only 40% of the site has been excavated.

These Roman ruins were in incredibly great shape when compared with the ones I saw in England in September (see my blog about that here), however those were an outpost and this was a major economic center.

After our time in the ruins, we ate couscous and tagine in a private family home, before driving on to Fez.