Fes Travel Guide
Fes Medina
Trending Places In Fes The largest car-free urban area in the world, Fez El Bali (Old Fez) is a warren of twisting lanes and centuries-old monuments and mosques. As well preserved as the traditional architecture are the traditional crafts practised here for centuries: this is a rare opportunity to see how many distinctly Moroccan treasures, from fine leather to copper pots, are made.
Medersa Bou Inania
The most architecturally refined of Fez’s theological colleges was built by the Merinid sultan Bou Inan between 1351 and 1357. Beyond the massive brass entrance doors, its interior courtyard is a masterpiece of elaborate zelligetilework, carved plaster and beautiful cedar lattice screens. Smaller courts off either side functioned as classrooms, and students lived upstairs.
Unlike many such schools, the Bou Inania has a full mosque adjoining it. (For this reason, it’s closed to visitors during prayer times.) The mihrab niche, visible across the prayer hall, has onyx columns, a style that echoes the Great Mosque of Córdoba. The mosque’s beautiful green-tiled minaret is the one that’s visible when you enter the medina via Bab Bou Jeloud.
Chouara Tannery
The largest of the medina’s several tanneries, Chouara is one of the city’s most iconic sights (and smells). Operating since at least the 16th century, the area was heavily renovated in 2016, but the scene, viewed from the surrounding balconies, remains remarkably medieval. It’s striking to see the hard physical labour that goes into the butter-soft, elegant leather goods sold in the surrounding workshops. Try to get here in the morning when the pits are awash with coloured dye.
Built in the 17th century to serve the megorashim (Jews descended from those expelled from Spain), this synagogue is trimmed in pretty herringbone green tiles, turquoise octagonal pillars and glowing chandeliers. The guardian can point out the main features, including the original deerskin Torah scrolls in an ark built into the wall, and a mikvah (ritual bath) in the basement, filled by an underground water source. B&W photos of other Jewish sites around Morocco are also on display.
Kairaouine Mosque & University
Established in 859, the Kairaouine is the spiritual heart of Fez and, arguably, all Morocco. It is also considered the world’s oldest university, though it began as a simple medersa (school for studying the Quran), funded by Fatima Al Fihria, a member of an elite family who emigrated from the Tunisian city of Kairouan. Expanded over the centuries, the Kairaouine is now very large, with a capacity of 20,000. This is hard to grasp on the ground, though, as shops and houses encircle it, disguising its true shape.
As with all Moroccan mosques, only Muslims may enter. Passersby can glimpse the mosque’s courtyard from doors at Chemmaine and on Derb Boutouil, but its scale is best appreciated from above – its minaret and ten rows of green-tiled roofing, which look like the bellows of an accordion and cover the columned prayer hall, are visible from almost any rooftop in the medina.
Jnan Sbil
These lush gardens are a breath of fresh air after the intensity of Fez’s medina, and a good walking route between Bab Bou Jeloud and the mellah (Jewish Quarter). Midday, they can feel a bit dry and empty; they’re better at dusk, when locals come in droves to promenade on the shady paths, cool off around the grand central fountains and visit the bird coops, where peacocks and doves are bred. There’s a second gate on the east side.
