Fez Guide: What to do and see in Fez

You want to discover Fez? There are a thousand and a way of experiencing it. The imperial city is the capital of traditional Moroccan culture. Cunas of knowledge, their proud medersas are their flaming symbol.

This fortified city, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, will transport you to the Middle Ages.

Located in the interior of the medina, the Bab Bou-Jeloud district enters by its huge 1913 gate, decorated with blue and green belly, the colors of the city.

Within this neighborhood, visitors can visit the Bar Batah Museum, which collects the Arts and Traditions of the city.

This museum is located in the palace of the same name, built in the nineteenth century.

The Koranic school, the Bou Inania medersa, has an architecture full of various ornaments.

Built in the mid-14th century, this medersa is part of the process of revitalizing the city initiated by the meriní dynasty.

Tourists can also stroll through Talaa Kebira Avenue, one of the longest in the city, full of shops.

Things to see and do in Fez

THE MEZQUITA TO QUARAOUIYINE

The Karaouyine Mosque, one of the oldest and most illustrious in the Muslim world, was the first university in Morocco to which famous scholars such as Ibn Jaldún, Ibn Al Jatib and Averroes came.

Considered still one of the main spiritual and intellectual centers of Islam, it takes its name from the neighborhood in which it was built, that of the Kaziruan refugees.

It hosts the headquarters of the Muslim University of Fez. Built in several stages, the Karaouiyine mosque was founded for the first time in 859 by Fatima El Bint Mohamed Ben Abdellah el Fihri, a godly woman of Kairouan.

This sanctuary, transformed into a mosque in 933, originally consisted of a prayer room, four naves parallel to the wall of the Qibla and a large courtyard whose northern wall housed the alminar.

It was extended under the zenets in 956, some annexes (bibliotheque, detention rooms (khatoua), ablutions rooms...) were annexed to the building under the reign of the Almohads, Merinites, Saadites and Alawites.

It has a capacity of 20,000 people.

FES EL BALI

Fez el Bali is also the oldest neighborhood. Classified as a World Heritage Site by Unesco, Fez el Bali is full of monuments and historical places distributed by the 9,500 alleyways of the medina.

Surrounded by walls, the medina is a large medieval city that has remained virtually unchanged for 1000 years. Still inhabited, the medina is the most lively place in the city.

Thousands of Fassis, the inhabitants of Fez, cross it every day with donkeys loaded with goods heading to the zocos. A lovely place worth a thousand and a night!

FES EL JDID

The Jedid is a city by its own right, glued to the north of Fez el Bali, the ancient city. It was built in the 13th century by the Meriní dynasty, which wanted to give a new dimension to the city. And what a dimension!

The aim of the Merinites was to build a fortified administrative city that included mosques, barracks, markets, houses and a royal palace to house the princes of the new dynasty.

Only the Dar el Makhzen or royal palace occupies almost 80 hectares.

BAB BOUJLOUD

Located inside the medina, the entrance to the Bab Bou-Jeloud district is made through its huge 1913 gate, decorated with blue and green belly, the colors of the city.

Within this neighborhood, visitors can visit the Bar Batah Museum, which collects the Arts and Traditions of the city.

This museum is located in the palace of the same name, built during the nineteenth century.

The Koranic school of Bou Inania has an architecture full of diverse ornaments.

Built in the mid-14th century, this medersa is part of the revitalization process of the city driven by the meriní dynasty.

Tourists can also stroll through Talaa Kebira Avenue, one of the longest in the city, full of shops.