LE SHELLAH
R401
About
Chellah Chellah, Rabat, Morocco Chellah: A large walled and towered enclosure, the site of an ancient Roman city and a Merinid necropolis. Chellah is one of the most beautiful and peaceful Moroccan ruins, the site of an ancient Roman city and a Merenid necropolis. A large walled and towered enclosure, the site seems like a Medina. The site served first as a thriving Roman port and city, known as Sala Colonia. From the main gate, making you way through a path diagonally is a viewing platform which overlooks the main Roman ruins. The ruins are from 200BC onwards and include a forum, a temple and a craftsmen's quarter. They are small in scale but well signposted. Under the rule of the Merenids, Sultan Abou el Hassan (1331-1351) built a necropolis on top of the Roman site including gates and enclosing walls. The most picturesque of the Islamic ruins include a stone-and-tile minaret overtaken by storks building their nests. Inside the sanctuary is the Abou Youssef Mosque, now mostly in ruins although you can still discern the colonnades and the inner prayer hall. Behind the mosque are the royal tombs – that of Abou al Hassan and his wife are well identified and retain their decoration. The zaouia – or medersa – is in a better state of preservation than the mosque. The structure is basic: a vast courtyard surrounded by student cells and a prayer hall at the end. Fragments of zellij artwork are still intact on the minaret and colonnades and the inner prayer hall's stucco decoration is still discernable to an extent.
