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Meknes and Volubilis About one hour of road West of Fes, located an other Imperial city of Morocco called Meknes, it is a good thousand years old.The first settled here were the Berber tribe in the 10th century.but was only around the 17th century that Meknes start gaining some more respect as an Imperial city when the Alawite dynasty here established the country's capital under the power of Moulay Ismail. In 1755 Lisbon's huge earthquake gave Meknesa strong shake and many of its monuments were for ever lost. Same 30 Kms from Meknes is the site of the largest and best preserved Roman ruins in Morocco.The UNESCO heritage of Volubilis was setteld by Traders arround the 3rd century and stands for one of the Roman Empire's most remote outposts.Quickly the Roman Empire gained its deserved fame for the 20,000 habitant's commercial outpos..Volubilis was neglected around 280AD but its population of Greeks, Berbers, and Syrians continued to speak Latin even after the arrival of Islam. Volubilis was inhabited until the end of the 18th century when the catastrophic earthquake of Lisbon (Portugal) destroyed the town and its marble was taken for the building of Palaces in Meknes.
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