Fez... NOT TO BE MISSED !

The capital of Morocco for all together more than 400 years, home of the oldest university of the country and the leading cultural and religious centre. Fez is also the home of the oldest an largest medieval city in the world, a city that is almost unchanged through the modern ages and still most definately alive. Fez was founded in 789 at a place between the mountains where the river was flushing by. History has provided the city with long periods of hardship, but Fez has never died. Today it has its own culture, pride, art and even cuisine.

Fez Bali (Click here for Plan)

The Bali, or the oldest quarters of Fez, were to a large degree saved by the French general Lyautey. When the French got in control of Morocco around the time of World War I, he made all necessary arrangements to protect the medieval structures against the modern development. The result is that Fez el Bali has taken good care of its old architectural structures and is also very much a living city, where most streets are too narrow for cars and donkeys and mules are in common use. Just like all through its history, Fez el Bali has a striking combination of poverty and developed culture.

Nothing appears to have changed for centuries here in Fez. Donkeys and mules are still the preferred vehicle here between house walls that were erected long before the first European Christian came to visit. While life forms could appear to be crude and primitive to visitors, it is all a well tested organic structure that has survived more than 1000 years of history.

Fez. Narrow shopping streets

There are few streets in old Fez that do not have many shops. The basic shop is the tiny grocery store, where basic commodities like sugar, tea, tins and Coca Cola can be bought. Often there will be shops selling goods needed by the local craftsmen. In slghtly wider streets, the more typical touristic shop is found. But even this will often have a good part of its money coming in from local customers.

Fez. Kairouyine mosque

It has its name from the the city Kairouane in Tunisia. Either there was a woman with the origin in Kairouane who established it, or it simply got its name from the quarter where immigrants of this town lived.

But even if you cannot enter the mosque, at least many of the Islamic schools that lies around it are open to visitors. The most famous of these is the Attarin madrasa.

As long as the gates are open, there will be nobody to prevent you from looking in. And a good number of the gates are open, too. By carefully noticing any good possibility, you should have a good chance to see both the main courtyard as well as the prayer halls (as on this photo). Photographing appears to be well accepted, too, but you should try to avoid photographing individuals coming in or going out.

Kairouyine mosque has been the centre of Islamic learning in Morocco for more than 1000 years, but its real growth to importance came in the 10th and 12th centuries, when most of its structures were added to to the rather modest original structures. As a mosque it is rather unusual. Its large quarters have since long grown together with the rest of Fez, and unless you enter it, it is therefore almost impossible to get a grip of its real size. Fortunately there are sometimes doors open that allows non-Muslims to look inside, so that they can at least make a guess.

Fez. Bab Boujeloud

Being among the most famed gates of Morocco, the Bab Boueloud is suprisingly young. It was built as late as in 1913 and marked the completion of Fez el Bali and Fez el Jedid. The gate is strikingly beautiful, with the view from the outide as the most impressive. Seeing the minarets and the houses thorugh its opening marks an excellent introduction to Fez. As you enter the gate, note that the colour of the mosaics change: the outside blue reflects the colour of Fez, while the inside green is the colour of Islam.

It is not only the gate that is of recent age. Most of the surrounding houses alos belong to this century. But it is easy to be fooled, as it looks much older.