Moulay Idriss

From Fez to traveled to small town of Moulay Idriss, famous with locals for one reason and tourists for another. For tourists, the town is within a few kilometers of the 3rd century AD Roman ruins called Volibilus. For locals the town is named after the Prophet Mohammed’s son (Moulay Idriss) who fled Iran to the area and brought Islam to the local Berbers. He started the first royal dynasty of Morocco and was assassinated by his former best friend. The town hosts his grave in an elaborate mosque and is the site of a yearly pilgrimage for Moroccans. It is joked that five pilgrimages to Moulay Idriss is equal to one Haj to Mecca! Non Muslims historically were not allowed in the town and it only opened its doors in the1950's. Even today there are very few tourists and only a handful of hotels.

Aaron and I decided to hike to the ruins. This proved to be entertaining as we tromped through the countryside, farmer’s fields, up hills, down hills and through villages. The ruins were lovely. It is hard to imagine anything so old could survive the sands of time... or the Moroccan rains! There are huge mosaic tiled floors with themes of Hercules, Medusa and Roman times that are open to the elements, lacking even a fence to keep people off of them. After being to Rome and seeing other ruins you could compare and say the Moroccan government doesn't value this piece of history as they should. The massive pillars, olive presses and main street were most impressive. It was really neat to see something so ancient and be able to walk around through the town site.

The town itself felt off the beaten track and was worthwhile to go to for a few days. Our hotel was particularly nice (although pricey for Morocco) and we enjoyed sitting up on the balcony, soaking in the sun. Now that we are rejuvenated, time to head off for some more hiking to a destination we have been keen to see: Chefgaoan!