Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The Medina of Fes is considered to be the largest Medina in the world. My guide explained that the Saharan wandering band that we encountered there, derives from a tradition in some of the tribes from the Sahara desert, a rather spiritual intention in it’s ecstatic music, similar in intent to the Sufis.
“Far from resembling an aspic-preserved museum, the Medina remains a living, earthy (yet car-free) town thanks to its 200,000 residents. Apart from electricity and improved plumbing, little has changed.
Venturing through its main horseshoe gateways is an immersive and almost bewildering foray into a labyrinthine knot of narrow streets, lanes, and alleys lined with blank-walled houses and punctuated with dead-end squares. It exudes an almost organic complexity: Thoroughfares twist and turn, rise and fall, among warrens of homes that meld with shared walls and rooftops.
Founded in the 9th century, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the principal monuments in the medina – madrasas, fondouks, palaces, residences, mosques and fountains - date from this period. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country's cultural and spiritual centre.
The historic city of Fez consists of Fes el-Bali, the original city on both shores of the Oued Fes (River of Fez), and the smaller Fez Jdid, founded on higher ground to the west in the 13th century. It is distinct from Fez's now much larger Ville Nouvelle (new city). Fes el-Bali is the oldest continuously inhabited walled city in the Arab world,[116] and one of the largest and oldest urban pedestrian zones (car-free areas) in the whole world.[117][118][119] It is the site of the famous Qarawiyyin University and the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II, the most important religious and cultural sites, while Fez el-Jdid is the site of the 195 acre Royal Palace,[120] still used by the King of Morocco today. These two historic cities are linked together and are usually referred to together as the "medina" of Fez, though this term is sometimes applied more restrictively to Fes el-Bali only.[d]”
#fesmedina #Morocco #Saharanband #calltoprayer
The Medina of Fes is considered to be the largest Medina in the world. My guide explained that the Saharan wandering band that we encountered there, derives from a tradition in some of the tribes from the Sahara desert, a rather spiritual intention in it’s ecstatic music, similar in intent to the Sufis.
“Far from resembling an aspic-preserved museum, the Medina remains a living, earthy (yet car-free) town thanks to its 200,000 residents. Apart from electricity and improved plumbing, little has changed.
Venturing through its main horseshoe gateways is an immersive and almost bewildering foray into a labyrinthine knot of narrow streets, lanes, and alleys lined with blank-walled houses and punctuated with dead-end squares. It exudes an almost organic complexity: Thoroughfares twist and turn, rise and fall, among warrens of homes that meld with shared walls and rooftops.
Founded in the 9th century, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the principal monuments in the medina – madrasas, fondouks, palaces, residences, mosques and fountains - date from this period. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country's cultural and spiritual centre.
The historic city of Fez consists of Fes el-Bali, the original city on both shores of the Oued Fes (River of Fez), and the smaller Fez Jdid, founded on higher ground to the west in the 13th century. It is distinct from Fez's now much larger Ville Nouvelle (new city). Fes el-Bali is the oldest continuously inhabited walled city in the Arab world,[116] and one of the largest and oldest urban pedestrian zones (car-free areas) in the whole world.[117][118][119] It is the site of the famous Qarawiyyin University and the Zawiya of Moulay Idris II, the most important religious and cultural sites, while Fez el-Jdid is the site of the 195 acre Royal Palace,[120] still used by the King of Morocco today. These two historic cities are linked together and are usually referred to together as the "medina" of Fez, though this term is sometimes applied more restrictively to Fes el-Bali only.[d]”
#fesmedina #Morocco #Saharanband #calltoprayer
