As one of the
amazing Islamic cities in the world, Fez shares a history dating back to the 8th
century AD. From the time of its foundation, the city became a great trading
center and already in the 11th century AD it was famous throughout Europe for
its intellectual and cultural heritage. Regardless of the Europeanization of
the city, Fez still bears its features of the medieval Islamic architecture in
its entire splendor.
The city has many
significant historic places and monuments listed in the UNESCO Heritage list.
Among them is the great medina called Fes el Bali where the oldest madras
(educational center, school) in the world is situated. This oldest distinct part
of the city called medina is walled and
includes many narrow and old streets inside. This old city walled part of Fez
is considered the world’s largest car free urban area.
It is easy to
discover the numerous landmarks on your own.
You should skip the option of hiring a guide from the street; instead, ask
the hotel reception employees to arrange a local guide service for you.
The reason why you should avoid hiring a
guide from a street is that you will end up with entering from shop to shop
where you will be obliged to buy items. Moreover, most of the time the
information provided by ‘shopping’ guides is incomplete.
To get orientated in
the maze-like walled city, you should pay attention to the signs having eight
point shapes which lead to the main places of the medina. Walking downhill will
take you to one of the main gates (there are many gates to the walled city). A
simple map of the city at hand will be of great help to you. It is recommended
to have a compass at hand to get the track of the known monuments; the narrow
streets mostly make it difficult for you to orientate in the city.
What to see in the medina?
One of the must things to see in Fez are the pits where the locals dye leather.
You will find young boys offering you a tour to the tannery (the tour is free).
Sometimes it is hard to go and see the tanneries on your own, as the local
‘guides’ may even abuse you physically for an attempt. Instead, from the nearby
leather shop balcony you can see it in all its splendor. Be prepared to be
forced to buy some goods from the leather shop.
Other sights worthy to be
visited are the religious collage of Bou Inania (14th century), the Merenid
Tombs (from where a panoramic view of the medina opens in front of you), the
Moulay Idriss II shrine (the entrance is open only for the Muslims, though,
from the outside, you may admire the view to the tomb), the library and mosque
of Qaraouyine (it has a splendid interior design that is worthy to be visited
regardless of the fact that you would not be allowed to enter t in case you are
a foreign non-Muslim.
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