Chellah

Chellah / Shalla
Sla / Calla (Shalla)
	Roman and Marinid remains inside the Chellah complex
	Shown within Morocco
Alternative name	Sala Colonia (name of Roman colony)
Location	Rabat, Rabat-Salé-Kénitra, Morocco
Coordinates	34°00′24″N 06°49′13″W / 34.00667°N 6.82028°W
Type	Necropolis
History
Abandoned	early 15th century

The Chellah or Shalla (Berber languages: Sla or Calla; Arabic: شالة),^[1] is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site in Rabat, Morocco, located on the south (left) side of the Bou Regreg estuary. The earliest evidence of the site's occupation suggests that the Phoenicians established a trading emporium here in the first millennium BC.^[2]^[3] This was later the site of Sala Colonia, an ancient Roman colony in the province of Mauretania Tingitana,^[4] before it was abandoned in Late Antiquity.^[5] In the late 13th century the site began to be used as a dynastic necropolis for the Marinid dynasty. By the mid-14th century Marinid sultans had enclosed a part of the site with a new set of walls and built a religious complex inside it to accompany their mausoleums.^[6] In the 15th century the necropolis began to decline and it suffered damage over the centuries due to earthquakes and looting. Archeological excavations in the 20th century unearthed the remains of the ancient Roman town. Today the site is a tourist attraction and since 2012 it forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.^[7]

^ Sheila Blair; Jonathan M. Bloom (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800. Yale University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0300064650.
^ Cite error: The named reference Abu-Lughod2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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^ Kenneth L. Brown (1976). People of Salé: Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City, 1830–1930. Manchester University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0719006234.
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[BlairBloom1995-1] Sheila Blair; Jonathan M. Bloom (1995). The Art and Architecture of Islam 1250–1800. Yale University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0300064650.

[Abu-Lughod2014-2] Cite error: The named reference Abu-Lughod2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:10-3] Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Brown1976-4] Kenneth L. Brown (1976). People of Salé: Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City, 1830–1930. Manchester University Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0719006234.

[:0-5] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:3-6] Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:5-7] Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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