Fes
Why go?
The oldest imperial city in Morocco, Fès (or Fez) is the
spiritual core of this country. It is home to some of north
Africa's finest mosques and medersas (Islamic schools), and
its largest intact medina - 10,000 labyrinthine alleys lined with
leather and carpet stalls, apothecaries and barbers, spice
merchants and grocers, tinkers and tailors, and jostling with
mules, trolleys, tourists and a very healthy contingent of
locals.
Once the power base of the intellectual and wealthy elite, "greater
Fes" now has more than a million citizens, and some parts have
begun to fray around the edges. In the late 90s, the World Bank
loaned a large amount to the city to improve public facilities and
restore the medina. The city is divided into 3 main sections:
Fès el-Bali (old Fes), the amazing, almost bewildering array
of alleyways in the walled medina, Fès el-Jdid, home to the
Royal Palace and Jewish quarter, and the Ville Nouvelle, the smart
modern section in the southwest.
Fès el-Bali is clustered with souks where you can
haggle for crafts, especially leather goods. If you want to see
exactly how your leather satchel was made, a tour of a tannery is a
real eye-opener (and nose-closer) – half of Morocco’s
total leather production comes from the raw materials produced in
Fès's tanneries. Besides the thousands of alleys, there are
also hundreds of intriguing buildings: abandoned palaces, still
vibrant medersas, unexpectedly intricate townhouses, and the
immense Kairaouine Mosque that can hold more than 20,000
people (closed to non-Muslims). All in all, it's more
medieval than Marrakech, more evocative and authentic, tougher
to penetrate, and totally undisneyfied.
Less complicated to explore, Fès el-Jdid (new
Fès) is home to the mellah, the Jewish neighbourhood,
with its contrasting construction style of windows and balconies
facing the street. Here also is the Dar el-Makhzen (Royal
Palace), wonderfully restored, although unfortunately its 80
hectares of gardens are closed to the public. Tours of palaces like
Dar el Glaoui that do open their doors to tourists, and even
some that don’t can be arranged via some hotels.
Built in the French colonial style, the Ville Nouvelle is
not so secretive, with green squares, parks and tree-lined
boulevards lined with chic cafés. This is the administrative
district, where you’ll find the post office, banks, train
station and most major restaurants.
Fès has a lively cultural scene, one of whose highlights is
the Festival of Sacred Music
in June.
Be aware that the medina is a gritty, almost medieval city whose
only transport is mules and trolleys - which means dodging mule
dung and impatient porters, not being put off by the whiff of
tanneries or a street butcher decapitating chickens, walking
to/from your hotel and expecting to get lost several times.
Some public buildings are closed for restoration, and many
mosques are closed to non-Muslims - though you can usually poke
your nose through the door without offending anyone.