The one thousand year-old Roman site "Cotta", located 20 km from the northern city of Tangier, has been classified by the Moroccan Culture Ministry as an archaeological heritage due to its historical importance and its architectural components.The site is located about four kilometers from Cap Spartel, a meeting point between the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, just hundreds of meters from the "Hercules Caves" (pictured above. It is reportedly an ancient industrial complex for fish salting. Drilling work carried out by a French archaeologist fifty years ago showed that the site was a Roman industrial counter.
The remains of the salting and treatment unit include several installations whose size shows a huge production capacity probably destined for export to other regions of the Mediterranean. There is a space of fish preparation which includes sixteen salting basins, a huge underground tank, a boiler house equipped with three levels of heating for drying the fish and warehouses for storing the products.
The site also includes remains of several adjoining buildings - particularly a peristyle house, a thermal unit and a temple located in a space which dominates the entire site.
The earlier excavations carried out by the French archaeologist enabled the updating of some fifteen graves. According to the results of his studies, the site’s life may have spanned over the period between the first century B.C. and the third century of the Christian era.
MAP report
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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