Fès

The City of Fès is one of five Imperial Cities in Morocco, along with Rabat, Tangier, Marrakech, and Meknès. The people of Fès believe their city is first among the five. They are a proud, dignified, and educated people. Fès has been a center of learning since the 12th century, has been home to a significant Jewish community for all of its history, and is one of the most important cities in Morocco today.

We started our tour, led by our guide Taoufik, with the hill overlooking Fès where there are the Tombs of the Merenid Dynasty --- early Arab rulers in Morocco. The picture above is taken from this hill and this picture below is of me at the base of the arch at the tombs.

We then went on a tour of the old medina of Fès (medina means city in Arabic), which is a protected UNESCO World Heritage site. Our guide was very committed to giving us a "non-tourist" experience, so we didn't enter the old medina through the usual, impressive city gates where tour buses drop off hoards of visitors throughout the day. We entered through the passage used by the people who live in the old medina and we were immediately met by all kinds of unusual (and wonderful) sights, sounds, and smells. People were busy working and going about their business and we were the only non-Moroccans around.

The first "site" that we saw in the old medina was the Andalusian Mosque, which we could not enter because we aren't Muslim, but we admired its beautiful exterior and learned that is was built by a woman in the 18th century to serve the needs of that part of the medina. She was from Andalusia and the inhabitants of that part of the medina at that time had emigrated to Morocco from Andalusia, in Spain. Here is a picture of me and Laure-Hélène (my French colleague) outside the Andalusian Mosque:

The next stop on our tour of the old medina was an old house, typical of the beautiful homes in the old medina which you would never guess were there because the streets are so narrow and there is such a bustle of activity. Here is just one of the pictures I took inside the home, which is also referred to as the Museum of Andalusian Musical Instruments. (Laure-Hélène and I agree that it was not much of a museum but and awesomely beautiful traditional home nonetheless.)

Here is another picture of me in this incredibly beautiful home, which dates back to the 16th century. I am at the water fountain off of the main atrium. The tilework you see in this picture is typically Moroccan and it is closely associated with Fès --- the Moroccans call this type of mosaic tilework zellij (zell-ee-j).

Next, we wandered the narrow streets of the old medina and it felt like a trip in time back to the middle ages. Here are two pictures to give you an idea of what the "streets" are like:

The items for sale in the stalls all throughout the streets of the old medina range from the banal (soap, flour, shoes, olives) to the beautiful (jewelry, fine leather goods, gowns of all colors) to the truly exotic, such as the porcupine quills for sale as a traditional medicinal cure or this fresh dromedary's head hanging outside a butcher's shop (yes, it is a delicacy and someone bought it and ate it today---I feel certain):

Our next stop in the old medina was the famous tanneries of Fès. Morocco is famous for its leather and they have been treating leather in the tanneries of Fès since the Middle Ages. Here is a video I made of the tanneries and surrounding areas. (Be glad smell cannot be recorded.)

After eating lunch, we drove about 40 km to Bhalil and then another 4 km to Sefrou. Bhalil is a small village that has been inhabited since Roman times. The women there wear a very different form of head covering than anywhere else in Morocco. It is much more like a big, white sheet that they drape over their heads and wrap around their bodies. Our guide took us to the home of a very old lady who shared her troglodyte home (cave dwelling) with us and served us tea. It was very unique and memorable.

Then we headed to Sefrou. This is a beautiful small town with an ancient Berber heritage. It used to be the home of one of Morocco's largest Jewish communities, but in 1967 a vast majority of Morocco's Jewish population migrated to Israel. Today, the mellah or Jewish quarter is in disrepair. As we learned at the Museum of Moroccan Jewry in Casablanca, there are efforts now underway to restore and preserve the most historical sites in Sefrou. Here is a view of a Jewish home (in the foreground with the large colored window) and a very traditional Muslim city (notice the minaret of the mosque in the background).

The city is also famous for its cool, green promenades along the river that flows from the hills down through the town. We rode in the car up to the top the the hills just outside of Sefrou and we saw these beautiful waterfalls where many Moroccans come to swim and feel refreshed in the summer months:

After touring Bhalil and Sefrou, we returned to Fès where we toured the mellah (Jewish Quarter) of Fès by night and then visited the front gates of the King's palace in Fès. It was very beautiful, but hard to capture in a photo:

This has been such an incredible journey. Everywhere I go my mind is busy absorbing my surroundings and trying to squeeze as much as I can into every experience. I can't wait to bring these experiences back to my students and colleagues!

We saw many beautiful sites today in Fès, Bhalil, Sefrou, and Sidi Harazem and the trip is going very well. Tomorrow will be another big day in the Middle Atlas region.