The city of Fez is made up for three parts: Fez al Bali (old Fez or the Medina), Fez al-Jadid (New Fez) and the Mellah or Jewish Quarter. Today, our Riad hired a guide and driver to take us around and show us all the sites. We began our tour in the Jewish quarter and went to see the Jewish cemetery. The graves were recently whitewashed and are shaped like white mounded candy bars. After exploring the cemetery and hearing some of the stories, we walked through the Mellah. Today the Jewish community in Fez is only about 50 families, but at its height, there were 250,000 Jews in the Mellah. We had hoped to visit the synagogue, but due to construction, we were unable to get there.
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Jewish Cemetery of Fez
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Grave of Solica Hatchouël aka Solica Hatzadika
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After visiting the Mellah, we drove around Fez al-Jadid. The wife of Morocco's King is from Fez and so the royal family has a a palace here in the city. Due to the pandemic, the palace and even standing outside it, to take a picture is not allowed. Fez al-Jadid is exactly what it means, "new" - new homes, nicely manicured trees lining the streets. After stopping at a few other sites, including a pottery warehouse, we headed back to the Medina to begin the walking tour. The Medina is home to over 350,000 people and Sunday happens to be one of the biggest holidays for Muslims, the feast of Eid al Adha, where Muslims re-enact Abraham's obedience by sacrificing an animal (usually a sheep, ram or cow). As we walked through the streets of the Medina, we saw tens of sheep and rams being pulled through the streets by their horns or by leash taking them to people's home in preparation for Sunday's feast. The shuk/souks or markets were full of women buying produce and other food items for Sunday. Many of shuks are divided into sections: gold, meat, leather, dyes etc. We came across stalls that sell camel - apparently a whole camel costs over $11,000 and every part of the camel can be used for something. I am pretty sure, the girls missed the stalls featuring the animal heads and I didn't think capturing this on film was necessary.
Some of the historical sights we visited were: Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque/University, founded in the 9th century, which is the oldest existing, continually operating university, the Madrasa al- Attarine built in the 14th century and BabBou Jeloud, the Blue Gate, one of the main entrances to the Medina. One side of the gate is green, the holy color for Islam and the other side of the gate is blue, the color of Fez. The original gate was likely to have been built in the 11th century, but the one that we saw was completed in 1913.
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At the entrance of BabBou Jeloud
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Standing outside Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque
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Madrasa Al- Attarine
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After visiting some historical sites, we visited different cooperatives that specialize in selling carpets, argan oil and spices to name a few. We visited a widows cooperative that employs women who are divorced or widowed to make carpets. The products were very beautiful and also way out of our price range; that didn't stop the owner from trying to do a hard sell on us.
We then went to the Chouara Tannery, which has been owned and operated by the same family since at least the 13th century. The tannery, according to our guide, is the oldest and largest in Africa and continues to dye its leathers the same way that has been done for centuries. When we walked into the building, a man handed each of us a stem of mint; I didn't know what it was for, but then Baba told me to keep it pressed to my nose. According to our guide, the hides of the animals are soaked for 10 days in mixtures of cow urine, pigeon feces, quicklime, salt, and water in order to clean and soften the tough skins, using only natural products. We slowly made our way to the top of the building where we could see the operation in action. The smell that permeated the air, even with a mask and mint shoved in our faces, was so overwhelming, and continued to linger even as we made our way back down into the different showrooms.
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Chouara Tannery
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| Everyone held their breaths for this photo |
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After the tannery and over six hours of touring the general consensus was - go back to the Riad and swim in the pool. Walking through the Medina and learning about the history was completely different than what M & O had experienced on previous trips.
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