This afternoon, we arrived in Fez. This is a fascinating city that extends back through 1,300 years of medieval history. The old medina is called Fes-el-Bali, and was founded in 859 A.D. Fez-el-Bali is the world’s largest car-free urban space and a UNESCO world heritage site.
Being here is to journey back in time, to a place where narrow lanes were deliberately built “three donkeys wide” in a labyrinth of twists and turns to confuse invaders. Wandering in this mystical place, you rub shoulders with djalaba-clad men and women going about their daily chores much as they have for millennia.
Walking between these ancient exterior walls, It’s impossible to know what exists behind them, because they present a solid blank face to the outside. There are no street signs and no way to get your bearings. The massive stucco walls up to four stories high rise steeply around you, and you catch only occasional glimpses of sky. Sometimes the walls hide a crumbling unrestored family dwelling, other times the palatial home of a wealthy aristocratic family.
Many are riads, traditional Moroccan houses or palaces with an inward-facing interior garden or courtyard. They were originally built with tall impenetrable walls to shelter their occupants from the outside world and to afford privacy for women.
We’re staying at the Riad Myra in the old medina, our home for the next five nights. To get there, we walked down a narrow cobbled alley, turned left, turned right, and turned left again.
When we found the brass plaque with the name of our riad, we tapped the iron knocker on the massive carved door, and were ushered by a lovely woman into another world, a magnificent interior space open to the sky three stories up, with massive blue and white tiled columns rising on all sides, enormous carved cedar doors leading to individual guest rooms, a fountain with rose petals floating in clear water, plush divans, and soft Arabic music playing.
Being here is to journey back in time, to a place where narrow lanes were deliberately built “three donkeys wide” in a labyrinth of twists and turns to confuse invaders. Wandering in this mystical place, you rub shoulders with djalaba-clad men and women going about their daily chores much as they have for millennia.
Walking between these ancient exterior walls, It’s impossible to know what exists behind them, because they present a solid blank face to the outside. There are no street signs and no way to get your bearings. The massive stucco walls up to four stories high rise steeply around you, and you catch only occasional glimpses of sky. Sometimes the walls hide a crumbling unrestored family dwelling, other times the palatial home of a wealthy aristocratic family.
Many are riads, traditional Moroccan houses or palaces with an inward-facing interior garden or courtyard. They were originally built with tall impenetrable walls to shelter their occupants from the outside world and to afford privacy for women.
We’re staying at the Riad Myra in the old medina, our home for the next five nights. To get there, we walked down a narrow cobbled alley, turned left, turned right, and turned left again.
When we found the brass plaque with the name of our riad, we tapped the iron knocker on the massive carved door, and were ushered by a lovely woman into another world, a magnificent interior space open to the sky three stories up, with massive blue and white tiled columns rising on all sides, enormous carved cedar doors leading to individual guest rooms, a fountain with rose petals floating in clear water, plush divans, and soft Arabic music playing.
The old medina is still based on traditional industries, such as tanneries, soap making, carpet weaving, textile and flourmills, along with olive oil processing. All manner of spices, fresh and dried fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, clothing, shoes, medicinal herbs, etc. can be found in tiny shops along the narrow alleys. You quickly learn the Arabic word “Barak!” which means there’s a heavily-laden donkey barreling down on you and you’d best move aside quickly!
