Fes
فـاس
Fes is the great imperial city of Morocco. Founded in the 800s, it remains the lifeblood of the country. Fes is altogether different from both Casablanca and Marrakech. Tucked between the Middle Atlas and Rif mountain ranges, the city is more compact than other large cities in the country.
We begin with our drive from Marrakech to Fes. Starting in the low desert around Marrakech at an elevation of 1,500 feet, we skirted the High Atlas mountains as we drove northeast to Fes. Some of the distant peaks reach over 4,000 meters (over 13,000 feet). Along the way we passed through many towns, several wilayats, or provinces, and lost our way a few times, which should surprise no one by now.
We arrived in Fes and were quickly picked up by a faux tour guide who was on his motor bike. He showed us to some hotels in New Fes, but it was too far from the Fes el-Bali medina. He then took us to a riad just inside the walls of the medina, the Dar Masmoudi, where we decided to stay.
The entire Fes el-Bali (Old Fes) medina is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains nearly 10,000 narrow streets and alleys covering 740 acres (100 acres smaller than Central Park in New York City). Within this medieval medina live about 160,000 people, 223 people per acre or 142,454 people per square mile. Compare that to the highest population density areas in New York that are around 100,000 people per square mile. And, since most buildings are under four stories in Fes el-Bali, the population density in Fes is all the more meaningful than in New York, where we have highrise apartment buildings.
The two-lane road between Marrakech and Fes. Here, we're following a taxi with rear window curtains.
In the middle of the high desert, we pulled over to take a break and snap some photos. We're not even halfway to Fes--progress is slow on the only road between these two cities.
We stopped in the middle of the desert for a quick break on our way to Fes.With nothing to block their view, the Atlas Mountains lie ahead. Once we filled the brake fluid, our Nissan Micra did a good job getting us around the country.
The high desert seems empty, but we often saw people sitting under the shade of the tiniest bush waiting for their ride.
As we climbed into the mountains toward Fes, we passed this town just off the road. I cannot find the town on any map, so it remains nameless.
The morning after our arrival, we climbed to our riad's roof to take in the city skyline. It was a hazy day. The city is mostly low-lying houses with a minaret popping up now and then.
Fes sits in a small valley and can therefore not sprawl too far. The skyline consists of lowrise buildings with a mosque or two for each neighborhood.
Posing on the roof of our riad. It's a hazy day in Morocco.
Pram and our tour guide inside our riad. We slept in the room to the upper-right. Breakfast is on the table and I'm about the climb down the stairs and eat.
The side of the Merenid Tombs, ruins perched atop on of the city's surrounding hills.
The view of the old Fes medina and its walls from the Merenid Tombs.
Looking north from the Merenid Tombs and it's as if there is no city for miles. Olive trees cover the mountainside and a cemetery lies at the bottom of the frame.
What must be the Central Park of Fes, this is the nicest park in the city according to our guide. It was nice, but not too clean, and not the lush park I usually have in mind when I hear gardens. What makes this park special is that there are no parks in the medina; over 99 percent of the land in the medina is developed.
Old Fes is surrounded by walls hundreds of years old. Piercing the walls are around a dozen gates, or babs. Back in the day, these gates were closed at night, leaving the stranded to sleep outside the walls. Most of these gates are not wide enough for cars, so much of the freight delivered from outside the city must be off-loaded onto donkey at these spots.
We toured a ceramics factory, where men and boys were manufaturing tile mosaics used to decorate Morocco's buildings. Here, boys are stenciling patterns on tile that will later be hand-cut into shapes used in the mosaics.
Older boys hammer the tiles to make the intricate shapes. Each small tile is used int he large mosaics called zellij.
The men piece together the zellij tile mosaics, taking the indigidula tiles, assembling them upside down, and creating the mosaics seen on the walls in this photo.
Boys and men work side-by-side to create tiles for zellij, the Moroccan art of tile mosaics that adorn many buildings around the country.
Medersas are colleges where students come to live and learn the ways of Islam and Muslim law. The Medersa as-Seffarine is the oldest in Fes, built in 1280, and, while the tilework and woodwork are amazing, it is in a terrible state of disrepair.
View from one of the upstairs windows in the Medersa as-Seffarine. The rooms upstairs were the residences for the students and look out on the open-air courtyard. The camera does not pick up the intricacies of the carved cedar. It is amazing.
Pram and Eunice, our no-so-trusty guide, in front of the Andalus Mosque. We are now in the Andalus Quarter of the medina, where thousands of families fled the rule of Al-Andalus in the Cordoba region of Spain and settled here in the 9th century.
The decorative entrance to the Andalus Mosque. This mosque was first built in 859 and later additions took place in 956, 1203-1207, and 1295-1296. This portal was among the later constructions and is made from carved stucco and colorful tiles with a carved cedar cornice (out of frame).
Entrance to the Royal palace. The Moroccan flag is red with a green, 5-point star in the middle. There is some significance to the seven doors, but I forgot what that means.
The Kairaouine Mosque is the main mosque in Fes. Built between 859 and 862, the mosque is completely surrounded by buildings, belying the fact that it can hold over 20,000 people. Non-Muslims cannot enter, but we peeked through one of its many doors on a surrounding alley. The university inside is one of the most respected institutions for Muslim learning in the entire world, and has one of the finest libraries in the Muslim world. There are typically over 300 students in residence. In the distance are the Merenid Tombs atop the hill.
On the roof of the textile co-op. This is our trusty tour guide for the textile mill, where traditional Moroccan fabrics are made. We talked with this guy for some time. He lived in East Harlem for awhile before coming back to Morocco. We talked about politics, living in Fes, and, oh, about weaving.
Adjacent to the textile co-op is (apparently) the only double minaret in the world. The newer white tower is the standard mosque minaret. The closer tower was an observatory used by astronomers. In the history of astronomy, Arabs are credited with carrying astronomy through the Middle Ages, when there were not too many advances in Europe.
In one of the rooms in the mill was this young one spinning. Apparently, there are no chairs in Morocco.
In the textile co-op they sell jellabas, or kaftans, for men and women. I'm sporting a traditional jellaba--men always wear long-sleeved, women wear the short-sleeved variety. How about that hat?
The sign for the tannery off the street in the medina.
On another roof, this time to see the tannery, where leather is made. The techniques used in these tanneries have remained the same since medieval times. First, the hides come in and are stripped of their hair. Conditioned in the white tubs, they dry and then are dyed in the various colored tubs. Along the way, the leather is treated in, among other things, pigeon droppings and cow urine. Where does one get pigeon poop? 'In the market,' according to our guide. Seems like a logical place, I thought.
I zoomed in to see the men working in the tannery. Pelts in various stages of the process are hanging in sheds, lying about drying, or being dyed in vats. The dyes are all natural and include indigo, saffron, henna, and other plants.
Finally, we are back to the parking lot outside the Bab Jamai; our riad is just inside the medina walls. It was a long day filled with so many sights, sounds, and smells. I am completely drained. One more surprise was about to come from our lovable tour guide. He requested that we bestow him with something 'western.' He seemed to be leaning toward a shirt. Of course, all my shirts are completely plain, so he was leaning more on Pram for this and Pram was not happy about this. In the end, he gave him a shirt from Dickies, the clothing company, which Eunice put on straight away. It fit like the casing on a sausage.
After spending one week in Morocco, I was ready to resume my affair with Spain. Morocco supplied a deep cultural experience, but it’s a harsh existence. The afternoon heat is brutal, the “foreigness” of the customs is a little stressful, and the driving is certainly like no other place I’ve visited.
I will admit, I was ready for something more Western.
Rather than stay at the same hotel downtown Casablanca, we decided to look for something closer to the ocean. We nervously drove into town and headed for the seaside. South of the enormous Hassan II mosque lies the beaches and (modest) resorts that line them.