Rabat: Chellah - the Roman ruins

In Rabat, the capital of Morocco, is Chella, a medieval necropolis. It is the ruins of a large walled, fortified Roman Mauretania Tingitana colony called Sala Colonia (the colony of Sale), but generally referred to as Chellah. It lies on the banks of the river Bouregreg.

The ruins show the 2^nd century architectural outline of 13 shops (9 in one area and 4 in another), the main street (Roman way), a forum, an arch, and the baths. The Romans left in the 4th century, leaving a military unit, which stayed until the end of the 5th century. The site was abandoned in 1154, and the Almohad dynasty used the vacant colony as a necropolis to bury prominent citizens.

In 1755 many structures in the Chellah (Sala Colonia) fort were damaged during an earthquake, in which the epicentre was Lisbon. Now the site is a tourist attraction with gardens of trees and flowers among the ruins. From 2005 the site also hosts an annual international Festival of Jazz called Jazz au Chellah.

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