Fes Morocco - Experience a Different Kind of Adventure
Fez or Fes Morocco is one of the imperial cities of Morocco. It is Morocco’s third largest town aside from Rabat and Casablanca. This town is divided into three unique divisions namely the walled city of Fes el Bali, Fes-Jdid which is the home of the Mellah, and the French-inspired Ville Nouvelle.
The medina of Fes el Bali is believed to be the largest urban car-free place in the world. Fes Morocco is situated along mountain of Atlas, so the seasonal climate varies from cool to hot in winter and summer respectively from the months of July to September. Your nights in Fes Morocco are always cool so do not forget to bring along jackets or cardigans.
Small food stalls are laid out on the streets offering exotic dishes. The stalls of Falafel are alternatively lined up with the stalls of kebab forming a version of the food courts found in the mall. Different delicacies including camel cuts and escargot are sold at different stalls.
If you are into fruit diet or the vegetarian type, there are stalls offering fruits, fresh cheese, bread, and baked sweets and desserts. You get to enjoy a different blend of coffee and mint tea available for coffee lovers while gazing at other tourists spend their day in Fes Morocco. You can also have your dinner or meals at Dar El Ghalia where numerous salad dishes make a perfect appetizer for a mouth watering meal. Never leave Morocco without trying their national dish, lamb tagine. A roasted chicken seated on a pile of egg noodles will surely make you ask for more.
For your souvenirs, get yourself a leather suitcase first. You will need it after seeing all the things and crafts that you would like to have on different shopping stalls. The goods in Fes Morocco range from handcrafted leathers, Berber rugs, goods made of silver, and pottery products.
Medersa Bou Inania
The Medersa Bou Inania was built between 1350 and 1357 by the Merenid sultan Bou Inan.
As one of the few religious buildings in the city that non-Muslims may enter, the Medersa (a “madrassa” is an Islamic school of learning) is one of the most popular monuments to visit in Fes Morocco and a must-do stop on any tour of the medina.
Up until the 1960s, this was still a functioning theological school, and the restoration efforts that were carried out afterwards have carefully returned the medersa to its ornate original state.
The carved woodwork and stucco decoration is magnificent and is a tribute to Morocco’s master artisans.
Chouara tanneries
The Chouara tanneries of Fes Morocco are one of the city’s most famous sights. Sitting in the northeast corner of Fes el Bali, just east of the Qaraouiyine Mosque, the tanneries have been the bustling center of the city’s leather industry since the medieval era.
The only way to get the iconic bird’s-eye views over the dying pits, where hides are soaked in a multitude of colors to later become bags, clothing, shoes, and a variety of other products, is to head to the leather stores surrounding the tannery area, which offer views from their rooftops.
the Mellah District
The atmospheric old Mellah (Jewish Quarter) is in Fes el Jedid, just south of the Royal Palace.
Throughout this compact district, the lanes are lined with fine (though highly dilapidated) examples of early 20th-century houses, which were once home to the vibrant Jewish community of Fes Morocco.
Within the district, the small, restoredAben-Danan Synagogueis open for visitors.
On the edge of the Mellah is the rambling Jewish cemetery, one of the city’s most tranquil spots, and a Jewish Museum housing a collection of objects highlighting Moroccan Jewish life and culture
the Qaraouiyine Mosque's
Built in AD 857 by Tunisian immigrants from the holy city of Kairouan, the Qaraouiyine Mosque was a thriving center of theological study and one of the medieval period’s most distinguished universities.
It vies for title of the oldest university in the world with the Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt.
Today, in its function as a working mosque, it is one of Morocco’s largest centers of worship with a prayer hall that can hold 20,000.
The mosque’s library is one of the oldest surviving in the world and contains more than 30,000 books. Among the collection is a 9th-century Qur’an.
The Qaraouiyine Mosque complex cannot be entered by non-Muslims.
Non-Muslims can, though, glimpse the mosque’s internal courtyard from the ornate main doorway on Derb Boutouil. You can get excellent views of the mosque from nearby restaurant rooftops and from the rooftop of the Medersa el-Attarine.
the Royal Palace's Gate in Fes el Jedid
The Merenids built this “New City” in the 13th century, when they realized that Fes el Bali would be too small to contain their palaces.
The grand Royal Palace takes center stage here. Its 80 hectares of grounds are not open to the public, though, you can stop and admire its ornately decorated entranceway.
There’s a tranquil air to this small section of the city, which sits between bustling Fes el Bali and the European-style Ville Nouvelle,and it makes a welcoming, peaceful lull between these two faster-paced worlds.
the Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Crafts
Right amid Place Nejjarine, surrounded by metalworker workshops, you’ll find the Nejjarine Museum in an old fondouk (khan or caravanserai), which has been transformed into a museum exhibiting the diversity of traditional Moroccan wooden arts and crafts.
Here, in the salons where traders once slept on their trips to town are displays of highly detailed engraved granary doors, dowry chests, and mashrabiya (lattice screen) window frames.
The central courtyard of the fondouk, with its sturdy pillars and balconies decorated in carved wood and stucco detailing, is worthy of the entrance price alone and has been painstakingly restored to its original glory.
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