A Visit to Chellah

Visiting old places

 

The other day we visited Chellah, the site of ancient Roman settlement in Rabat (long before it was Rabat).

Now a crumbled ruin, this outpost of the Roman Empire was probably established around by the Phoenicians in the 12^th Century BC.

  
Hundreds of storks call it home (the giant nest on top of the mosque tower)














and cats near a wishing pool

 

Parts of it are now overgrown with lush vegetation.         

Sometime in the 1300s, the sultan Abou Said constructed a small fortress beside the site of the Roman ruins. 

Later, his son, Abou al-Hassan, built a mosque. 

A successor rival walled the whole area off preventing access for a long time.

Now accessible to the public, it is a peaceful area to wander through and view the ancient remains of old civilizations.

And, of course, imagine stories of the lives of the people who lived during those times.

More later, Insha'Allah