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The first place to be settled along the Bou Regreg river in the third century BC is Chellah, Rabat, Morocco. There is the probability that the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians inhabited the banks of this river. The Romans took over Chellah in 40 AD and turned it into Sala Colonia. Around 250 AD it came under the control of the Berber rulers. Today it is a complex of the ancient and medieval ruins of Morocco. It contains the ruins of Sala Colonia (referred to as Sala by Ptolemy). Excavations have revealed among others the remains of the Decumanus Maximus, a monumental fountain, and a triumphal arc. It was abandoned in 1154 and was later used by the Almohad dynasty as a necropolis. Then in the middle of the 14th century the Merinid Sultan, Abu I-Hasan constructed features like a mosque, a Zawiya and a grand main gate. Today Chellah, Morocco is also home to the tomb of Abu I-Hasan. Chellah, Rabat experienced a massive earthquake in the 18th century and this resulted in the destruction of many structures from the ancient or medieval Morocco. Today Chellah, Rabat, Morocco has been converted to a garden. It has attained a position in the list of the major Morocco tourist attractions.
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