Morocco

Morocco - Directed by Raymond Capra, Brooklyn College CUNY, and Taieb Berrada, Lehigh University

Vergilian Society Winter Tour - December 26, 2019 to January 5, 2020

This end of the year tour will take participants to a less-explored part of the ancient world. Straddling the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Morocco saw the Phoenicians arrive as traders and colonizers between the 9^thand 6^thcenturies BCE. The Carthaginians continued commerce and exchange with the native Berber populations and were the dominant foreign, cultural influence until the region finally came under Roman administration in the Augustan period. Its classical history is a mix of conquest and capable administration, as exemplified by the rule of Ptolemy of Mauretania from 23-40 CE; he was the grandson of Cleopatra and Mark Antony. The majority of Roman ruins in the country, in particular the sites of Lixis and Volubilis, date from the later Imperial period. After Roman influence faded, a vibrant early Christian culture gave way to Islam, the latter represented from the Medieval to the Modern Period. As Morocco was and still is on the edge of the Classical Mediterranean world with most of the land oriented toward the Atlantic, a tour in this country will offer a very different perspective of the ancient and modern worlds.

Price: $4300*, includes roundtrip flight from NYC, two meals a day, hotels, local guides, and bus travel throughout the country (there is a bit of that). We shall begin the tour in a New York airport to make sure everyone arrives and leaves together, as are there are a few administrative issues particular to the country.

(*Single room supplement of $400).

Dec 27 Friday

Arrival at Casablanca and transfer to Tangier airport
Hotel check in and lunch
Medina of Tangier
The Museum of Antiquities
Museum of Moroccan Arts
Welcome dinner in Tangier
Hotel in Tangier

Dec 28 Saturday

Tetouan
Bus to Tetouan
Visit Archaeological museum of Tetouan
City visit
Hotel in Tangier

Dec 29 Sunday

Cotta
Dchar Jdid ou l'antique Zilil
Iulia Constantia Zilil
Visit Asilah
Hotel in Asilah

Dec 30 Monday

Visit Lixus site
Visit Larache and archaeological museum
Lunch in Larache
Hotel in Larache

Dec 31 Tuesday

Bus to Iulia Valentia Banasa and visit
Bus to Meknes and visit
Hotel in Meknes

Jan 1 Wednesday

Visit Volubilis
Lunch in Moulay Idris
To Sale for visit
Kasbah of the Udayas
Hotel in Rabat

Jan 2 Thursday

Rabat Museum of Archaeology
Oudaias Museum
Chellah
Hotel in Rabat

Jan 3 Friday

Rabat visit
Hassan tower
Mausoleum of Mohammed V
Bus to Casablanca
Hotel in Casablanca

Jan 4 Saturday

Visit city of Casablanca
Farewell Dinner
Hotel in Casablanca

Jan 5 Sunday

Departure from Casablanca