Storyline: Highlights of Morocco
You have probably heard of Fès, because of its famous red cylindrical hat with a tassel. Although fezzes don’t originate in Fes and the name of the city Fès is believed to originate from the Berber name Fazaz, the region where it was built. Still, one can’t help but link the two. I know of the fez hat being heavily used in the Ottoman Empire, but its origin is said to be in ancient Greece. Nevertheless, the Moroccan style fez is heavily marketed to tourists in Fès.
Fès is known for the largest continuously-inhabited medieval medina, with more than 9,000 winding streets and lanes lying within its 365 hectares. It is a UNESCO heritage site, believed to be the world’s biggest urban car-free zone. Some of the buildings in the medina date back to the 9th century, and there are some 350 mosques still in use today.
We had a very busy and eventful morning. After the buffet breakfast we met with our local Fès guide Aziz Naiim. I have to say that of all city guides, I liked Aziz the most.
First, we visited the royal palace Dar el Makhzen. Just from outside unfortunately, since the palace is not open to the public.
As we marveled at the huge and beautiful locked doors, we wondered what it would look like inside. And how one could reach these knockers so high up.
We then crossed the road to the Jewish Quarter. The difference between Jewish residences and Muslim ones is the balconies and the windows in the Jewish houses overlook the streets. Muslim houses only have a door in the uniform, unadorned walls. We wandered through the streets of the Jewish quarter, observing the morning life. Streets so narrow that the windows from opposite sides were almost touching each other. If the shutters were opened both sides, they for sure would touch each other. But as Aziz explained, there is a neighbourly agreement: the windows and curtains on one side of the street are open in the morning and those on the opposite side are open in the afternoon. This way, some privacy is afforded while fresh air flows into the homes.
We met Larbi at the other end of the Quarter and were driven to Borj Sud (South Fort). It revealed great views of the city and the medina.
We enjoyed the views, the morning sun warming our bodies, and of course you won’t be surprised by this statement: we took some photos to keep the memories alive…lots of them!
It was time to visit a pottery factory and observe how tagines, mosaics and other pottery is made.
I’ve seen pottery making many times, but this was huge factory with fascinating production: from mixing the clay, throwing the pot on a foot-powered wheel, drying, painting, glazing and firing it after,
to decorating the tagines with metal and the man designing the patterns to be reproduced hundreds of times by a team of women.
The most fascinating for me was the mosaic making. Millions of teeny-tiny pieces, chiselled from glazed squares, then assembled face down, set into place and finally revealed as the finished product.
The tour ended in the factory store of course, and some of us bought tagines that were going to be delivered to their homes.
We followed our entertaining guide through one of the great gates into the chaos of the Medina’s souks: artisans’ quarters, carpenters, silversmiths, bakers, butchers, spice, dried fruits & nuts sellers. Some streets were so narrow that two people could not pass each other without backing up like cars on a single-lane road. We looked into the variety of products. I wanted to buy nuts and dry fruits. Aziz led us to a stall he recommended and we all bought nuts and dry fruits. They lasted me as snacks to the end of the trip.
We glanced into the mausoleum of the founder of Fès, Idriss II and visited the oldest existing educational institution in the world,
the Al Qarawiyin University with its mesmerizing kaleidoscopic mosaics and stucco carved with inscriptions from the Quran.
A highlight of the tour was the view of the famous Fès tannery from the balcony of a leather shop. We were given bunches of mint that we assumed were to deal with the smell; however we were led to an open balcony from where we observed the hard work of treating and dyeing different hides, and in the light breeze the odour was not overpowering, so while unnecessary, the mint’s aroma was refreshing.
Fascinating for us, but I can’t imagine how this is done in hot summer days. As is now normal for any museum or attraction around the world, to exit we had to pass through the store, where the girls looked at the leather bags and shoes, and some of the guys ended up buying leather belts.
It was a long and busy morning and we were hungry. The lunch was inside the medina in a beautiful restaurant with stunning mosaic walls and decorations. Full of tourists of course. Food was delicious, as in all other places we’ve been so far.
Glad we didn’t sign up for the additional activity – a tour of Meknes: three more hours (return) in the minibus and 1½–2 hours touring the town. Sights, sounds and smells were already an overwhelming mess in my head. Instead we visited the liquor store and bought some Meknes wine and some food for the next day’s picnic lunch.
And after the great food we’d had earlier, we decided to skip dinner and have an early night. Tomorrow we’d travel ten hours or so to the desert, and while we weren’t keen on such a long day’s travel, we were looking forward to experiencing the dunes of the Sahara.
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