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| MAROCCO |
| Rabat |
| Sala
colonia - Chellah |
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The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians,
who founded several colonies in Morocco, probably inhabited the
banks of the Bou Regreg. Chellah is the site of the ruins of the
Roman town known as Sala Colonia, referred to as Sala by
Ptolemy. Excavations show an important port city with ruined
Roman architectural elements including a decumanus maximus or
principal Roman way, a forum and a triumphal arch. One of the two
main Roman roads in Morocco reached the Atlantic through Iulia
Constantia Zilil (Asilah), Lixus (Larache) and Sala Colonia.
Another may have been built toward south, from Sala Colonia to
modern Casablanca, then called Anfa. The Romans had two main
naval ouposts on the Atlantic: Sala near modern Rabat and Mogador
in north of Agadir. Roman expeditions sailed from there to find
the Canary islands.
The site was abandoned in 1154 in favour
of nearby Salé. The Almohad dynasty used the ghost town as a
necropolis. In the mid-14th century, a Merinid sultan, Abu
l-Hasan, built monuments and the main gate, dated to 1339. These
later Merinid additions included a mosque, a zawiya, and royal
tombs, including that of Abu l-Hasan. Many structures in Chellah
were damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. The site has been
converted to a garden and tourist venue.
Click on the
picture you want a larger version of
| Nice
entrance, and flowers |
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| We
saw lots of nesting storks inside |
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| Better
renovated buildings |
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| More
buildings, water pound and old graveyard |
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