Preservation and valorisation of Morocco’s ancient heritage: Volubilis

Abstract

The Volubilis project has created an opportunity for the transfer and sharing of knowledge in the field of heritage conservation between teams from both shores of the Mediterranean. The ambition of this project, supported by the region Centre-Val-de-Loire (France), is to develop a set of tools to preserve and develop the archaeological site of Volubilis. This Moroccan and global iconic ancient heritage is exposed to damage that endangers its durability. The project started in September 2015 and has two main goals. The first one is to carry out a historic inventory of the materials used for the construction of the site and their environment in order to understand the origin of the damage and propose sustainable solutions for remediation that meet the requirements of the ICOMOS Charter, in particular concerning the choice of compatible materials for restoration (mortar and stone). The second one is to promote the site towards local, national and international tourists via historical, scientific and technical media to highlight the cultural importance of this heritage. This project brings together two French partners, the Multidisciplinary Institute of Engineering Research Systems, Mechanics and Energetics (PRISME - University of Orléans) and the Mission Val de Loire, and three Moroccan partners, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (ENSAM-Meknes), Moulay Ismail University and the conservation authorities of the archaeological site, Volubilis Conservation.