Occurrence of Attributes in Original Text
The text related to the cultural heritage 'Archaeological Site of Volubilis' has mentioned 'City' in the following places:
| Occurrence Sentence | Text Source |
|---|---|
| partly excavated Berber city in Morocco | WIKI |
| Volubilis (Latin pronunciation:xc2xa0[woxcbx88lu.bi.lis]; Arabic: xd9x88xd9x84xd9x8axd9x84xd9x8axe2x80x8e, romanized:xc2xa0walxc4xablxc4xab; Berber languages: xe2xb5xa1xe2xb5x8dxe2xb5x89xe2xb5x8dxe2xb5x89, romanized:xc2xa0wlili) is a partly excavated Berber city in Morocco situated near the city of Meknes, and commonly considered as the ancient capital of the kingdom of Mauretania. | WIKI |
| The city gained a number of major public buildings in the 2nd century, including a basilica, temple and triumphal arch. | WIKI |
| The city fell to local tribes around 285 and was never retaken by Rome because of its remoteness and indefensibility on the south-western border of the Roman Empire. | WIKI |
| Contents 1 Name 2 Foundation and Roman occupation 3 After the Romans 4 Excavation, restoration and UNESCO listing 5 City layout and infrastructure 5.1 Commerce 6 Notable buildings 6.1 Public buildings 6.2 Triumphal arch 6.3 Houses and palaces 6.4 Headquarters of Idris I 7 Footnotes 8 Bibliography 9 External links | WIKI |
| The city lay within the kingdom of Mauretania, which became a Roman client state following the fall of Carthage in 146xc2xa0BC. | WIKI |
| [9] The Punic influence lasted for a considerable time afterwards, as the city's magistrates retained the Carthaginian title of suffete long after the end of Punic rule. | WIKI |
| [11] Educated in Rome and married to Cleopatra Selene II, the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Juba and his son Ptolemy were thoroughly Romanised kings, although of Berber ancestry; their preference for Roman art and architecture was clearly reflected in the city's design. | WIKI |
| After Claudius annexed Mauretania in 44xc2xa0AD, the city grew substantially due to its wealth and prosperity, derived from the fertile lands of the province which produced valuable export commodities such as grain, olive oil and wild animals for gladiatorial spectacles. | WIKI |
| The city remained loyal to Rome despite a revolt in 40xe2x80x9344xc2xa0AD led by one of Ptolemy's freedmen, Aedemon, and its inhabitants were rewarded with grants of citizenship and a ten-year exemption from taxes. | WIKI |
| [13] The city was raised to the status of a municipium and its system of governance was overhauled, with the Punic-style suffetes replaced by annually elected duumvirs, or pairs of magistrates. | WIKI |
| [16] However, the city's position was always tenuous; it was located on the south-eastern edge of the province, facing hostile and increasingly powerful Berber tribes. | WIKI |
| A ring of five forts located at the modern hamlets of Axc3xafn Schkor, Bled el Gaada, Sidi Moussa, Sidi Said and Bled Takourart (ancient Tocolosida) were constructed to bolster the city's defence. | WIKI |
| Rome's control over the city ended following the chaos of the Crisis of the Third Century, when the empire nearly disintegrated as a series of generals seized and lost power through civil wars, palace coups and assassinations. | WIKI |
| [13] Occupation of the city continued, however, as fine mosaics such as that of a chariot race conducted by animals in the House of Venus can not have been created earlier than the fourth century. | WIKI |
| The end of the Roman city probably came in the form of an earthquake towards the end of the century, which buried numerous bronze statues in the wreckage of the houses. | WIKI |
| [20] By the time the Arabs had arrived in 708,[12] the city's name was changed to Oualila or Walxc4xablxc4xab, and it was inhabited by the Awraba, a Berber tribe that originated in Libya. | WIKI |
| Much of the city centre had been abandoned and was turned into a cemetery, while the centre of habitation had moved to the southwest of the city, where a new wall was built to contain the abridged Roman town. | WIKI |
| He, too, lived outside the walls of the city, along the banks of the Wadi Khoumane, where a complex has recently been excavated that may be identified with his headquarters. | WIKI |
| The old Phoenician core of the city is on the left, the Basilica and Capitoline Temple are visible in the centre, while the Arch of Caracalla can be seen on the right behind the Roman extension to the city. | WIKI |
| The name of the city was forgotten and it was termed Ksar Faraoun, or the "Pharaoh's Castle", by the local people, alluding to a legend that the ancient Egyptians had built it. | WIKI |
| There is not very much remains standing of the ruins; two archways, each of great size, and in moderately good preservation, alone tell of the grandeur of the old city, while acres and acres of land are strewn with monuments and broken sculpture. | WIKI |
| She saw the dead city as representing "a system, an order, a social conception that still runs through all our modern ways." | WIKI |
| In recent years, one of the olive-oil production workshops in the southern end of the city has been restored and furnished with a replica Roman oil press. | WIKI |
| From 2000 excavations carried out by University College London and the Moroccan Institut National des Sciences de l'Archxc3xa9ologie et du Patrimoine under the direction of Elizabeth Fentress, Gaetano Palumbo and Hassan Limane revealed what should probably be interpreted as the headquarters of Idris I just below the walls of the Roman town to the west of the ancient city centre. | WIKI |
| City layout and infrastructure[edit] | WIKI |
| [42] Under the Romans, the city was expanded considerably on a northeast-southwest axis, increasing in size to about 42 hectares (100 acres). | WIKI |
| Most of the city's public buildings were constructed in the older part of the city. | WIKI |
| The grand houses for which Volubilis is famous are in the newer part, behind the Decumanus Maximus (main street), which bisected the Roman-era part of the city. | WIKI |
| The city was supplied with water by an aqueduct that ran from a spring in the hills behind the city. | WIKI |
| [44] The aqueduct ran under the Decumanus Secundus, a street that ran parallel with the Decumanus Maximus, and terminated at a large fountain in the city centre near the Arch of Caracalla. | WIKI |
| An early medieval wall stands to the west of the Arch of Caracalla; it was built after the end of the Roman occupation, apparently some time in the 5th or 6th centuries, to protect the eastern side of the city's new residential area. | WIKI |
| It was oriented in a north-south direction and was constructed using stone looted from ruined buildings elsewhere in the abandoned areas of the city. | WIKI |
| [46] Olive oil was central to the life of the city, as it was not just a foodstuff but was also used for lamps, bathing and medicines, while the pressed olives were fed to animals or dried out and used as fuel for the bathhouses. | WIKI |
| [45] There is also substantial evidence of the city being a lively commercial centre. | WIKI |
| Many private buildings, including the mansions of the city's elite, have also been uncovered. | WIKI |
| A large tumulus of uncertain origin and purpose stands approximately in the middle of the excavated area, between the old and new parts of the city. | WIKI |
| Two major public buildings are readily visible at the centre of the cityxc2xa0xe2x80x93 the basilica and the Capitoline Temple. | WIKI |
| The basilica was used for the administration of justice and the governance of the city. | WIKI |
| There were five other temples in the city, of which the most notable is the so-called "Temple of Saturn" that stood on the eastern side of Volubilis. | WIKI |
| Some mosaics can still be seen in the Baths of Gallienus, redecorated by that emperor in the 260s to become the city's most lavish baths. | WIKI |
| [47] The nearby north baths were the largest in the city, covering an area of about 1,500xc2xa0m2 (16,000xc2xa0sqxc2xa0ft). | WIKI |
| The Arch of Caracalla is one of Volubilis' most distinctive sights, situated at the end of the city's main street, the Decumanus Maximus. | WIKI |
| It was built in 217 by the city's governor, Marcus Aurelius Sebastenus, to honour the emperor Caracalla and his mother Julia Domna. | WIKI |
| The houses found at Volubilis range from richly decorated mansions to simple two-room mud-brick structures used by the city's poorer inhabitants. | WIKI |
| [52] The city's considerable wealth is attested by the elaborate design of the houses of the wealthy, some of which have large mosaics still in situ. | WIKI |
| The House of Orpheus in the southern part of the city thus takes its name from the large Orpheus mosaic, showing the god playing his harp to an audience of trees, animals and birds. | WIKI |
| [56] The most prestigious houses in the city were situated adjoining the Decumanus Maximus, behind rows of shops that lined the street under an arcade. | WIKI |
| 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. | WIKI |
| [48] Inscriptions found in the palace testify to the city's decline and eventual fall. | WIKI |
| They record a series of treaties reached with the local Berber chieftains, increasing in number as the city became more vulnerable and the tribesmen pressed harder. | WIKI |
| By the time of the final treaty, just a few years before the fall of the city, the chieftains were being treated as virtual equals of Romexc2xa0xe2x80x93 an indication of how much Roman power in the area had declined. | WIKI |
| [17] 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. | WIKI |
| [61] 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. | WIKI |
| Just outside the walls of the city, on the floodplain of the Oued Khoumane, was found a series of interlocking courtyard buildings, of which the largest contained a hammam, or bath. | WIKI |
| vteWorld Heritage Sites in MoroccoNorthern Medina of Fes Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage Medina of Txc3xa9touan (formerly known as Titawin) Archaeological Site of Volubilis Historic City of Meknes Central Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador) Medina of Marrakech Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida) Southern Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou | WIKI |