Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 18, 2013

Volubilis is a partly excavated Roman city in Morocco near Meknes. Built in a fertile agricultural area, it developed from the 3rd century BC onwards as a Phoenician/Carthaginian settlement and grew rapidly under Roman rule from the 1st century AD onwards. Public buildings included a basilica, temple and triumphal arch (pictured). Its prosperity, derived principally from olive growing, prompted the construction of many fine town-houses with large mosaic floors. The town fell to local tribesmen around 285 and was never retaken by Rome due to its remoteness. In the late 8th century it became the seat of Idris ibn Abdallah, the founder of the state of Morocco. Volubilis was abandoned by the 11th century. Its ruins remained substantially intact until an earthquake in the mid-18th century and subsequent use of the stones for building Meknes. During and after the period of French rule over Morocco, about half of the site was excavated and some of the more prominent buildings were restored or reconstructed. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed for being "an exceptionally well preserved example of a large Roman colonial town on the fringes of the Empire".

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