Today is our day to explore Fes, in Morocco.
Fes, for centuries, was the traditional capital of Morocco. It’s original old town, known as the Medina, was an ancient walled city built from the 11th century, so parts of it are about 1000 years old, though much of what we see is either newer or restored as the original buildings were constructed with mud before cement was discovered, and have largely crumbled.
It’s an absolute rabbit warren, grown randomly over the centuries as people have built anywhere there was space, and now inhabited by around 300,000 people, some of whom never venture outside the walls. Whilst a rabbit warren has many disadvantages, the one big advantage of thousands of narrow, twisting lanes, many of which are dead ends, is that its almost impossible for an army to march in and take control. Single file soldiers are easy to pick off, so the city was never conquered.
When the French occupied Morocco between the first and second world wars, they knew that they could never control the capital, so they captured the king, and moved his court and the capital to Rabat, where it still exists today. Regardless, the beating heart of the country is still in the medina. The lesson repeated itself during the COVID virus, with police largely choosing not to fight a losing battle enforcing restrictions inside the medina.
Somewhere down in the middle of it, off a lane which is off another lane, was a Dar (a house without a garden) with our name on it. Absolutely deserted when we arrived at midnight but, by the time our walking tour started this morning, the medina was a teaming mass. Had breakfast of coffee and croissants while waiting for our tour guide, then it was off for a 4 hour walk through the maze. Typical Islamic city with plenty of mosques along with their attendant fountains and squares. Many crumbling buildings held up by wooden structures awaiting restoration, and some open, cleared spaces where they have already fallen down. The market has a lot of sections to it – everything from a henna section to a spice section to a silverware section to a sunglasses section.
Highlights of the morning were the hot massage baths (and when I say hot I mean that the marble slabs you lie on to get pummelled are heated till they are too hot to touch), and a visit to the world famous tanneries. As well as claiming that they have the oldest university in the world (well maybe one of the oldest institutes of higher learning), the city claims to have the oldest tannery in the world, and to have perfected the technique for producing leather that is now used all around the world. The scene from the balcony was amazing, and the subject of many documentaries and pictures.
We revisited one of the restaurants called the Ruined Garden that we’d passed on the tour, and had a lovely lunch under the trees in the garden.
In the afternoon we tracked down the henna shop operated by our Airbnb host which was right in the centre of the medina, and enjoyed a mint tea together, until he was interrupted by the afternoon call to prayer.
Then back to the Dar to wrestle with the internet to book tours and trains for the next week.