Volubilis Site Museum

The Volubilis Site Museum is a small museum linked to the Roman archaeological site of Volubilis near Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, about 30 kilometres north of Meknès in Morocco. Volubilis was the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana and flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD on the olive oil trade, and UNESCO inscribed it on the World Heritage List in 1997. The museum presents objects recovered in excavations since the early 20th century, which began under French archaeologists and continued after independence. Many of the finest finds, including famous bronzes such as the bust of Juba II and the Dog, the Ephebe and the Bacchus statuettes, are now in the Archaeological Museum in Rabat, but the site museum shows a selection of bronzes, inscriptions, lamps, pottery, coins, architectural fragments and tools that help explain daily life in the city. The exhibits support a walk around the ruins, showing the Roman use of olive presses, house decoration and religious life. The curatorial approach is thematic and site-based, linking each group of objects to the buildings where they were found. The museum building is modest in scale and has been updated by the Moroccan heritage authorities as part of improvements to the site, including a visitor centre. The ruins themselves have the famous mosaics in place, and the museum acts as an introduction to them. Admission to the site is about 70 MAD, with hours that change between summer and winter, and the museum can be seen in around 30 minutes. Because the ruins have little shade, visitors often visit the museum first or last to rest from the heat.