FEZ INFORMATION
The ancient medina of Fez lies in a bowl created by the surrounding Zalagh mountains. The city was founded during the 8th century by Moulay Idriss, who lies buried deep within the medina at the shrine (zawiya) bearing his name. Today the medina houses some 187000 people.
The new city of Fez built by the French during their Protectorate of Morocco, lies a few kilometres to the west and has the feel of a French provincial town, with its pavement cafés, wide boulevards and plentiful fountains. By contrast, the medina has tiny winding streets of cobble-type bricks, some alleys only just wide enough for a donkey to pass through. There is vehicular access only to the periphery of the medina, where you will find parking and taxi ranks. The medina covers an area of approximately 4 square kilometres. It has many entrances or gates, which are called Babs.
Guidebooks
Lonely Planet's Fez Encounter 1, published in March 2008, is the best guide to Fez with details on where to eat, drink, shop, sight-see and play. There's a good pull-out map, too. Order it here.
There's another excellent book called Fez Bab to Bab available in bookshops situated around the Central Market in the New City. It contains a series of well-structured walks through the medina, a large map, and is available in English, Arabic and French and costs Dh160.
In the streets of the medina, you'll spot star-shaped street signs in different colours. These denote colour-coded tourist walking circuits with different themes, such as walls and ramparts, traditional crafts, palaces and gardens and so on. They relate to wall maps that are placed in strategic areas, and also to the Fes Guide book published in English by ADER-Fès. It's also available in French, and contains a good map. It's available at hotels and guesthouses, as well as bookshops for around Dh100.
Weather
The temperatures in Fez are pretty extreme: it gets very hot in summer in July and August (up to 45 degrees C) and very cold in December and January (dropping to around 8 degrees C during the day, zero at night). Most guesthouses have air-conditioning and all have heating for those cold winter nights. Spring (March and April) and autumn (September and October) are very pleasant.
Place Seffarine
Cedarwood door detail, Bouanania |
Just wandering the Medina
streets and absorbing the sights, sounds and smells is a fine introduction to Fez.
Expect to get lost - it's half the fun. Stick to the busy streets and you'll
eventually find your way out or back onto one of the two main streets, Tala'a
Kebira (Big Slope) and Tala'a Sghira (Little Slope). These streets merge at the bottom, deep in the
Medina. It's probably a good idea to engage a guide (see below), but if
you decide not to, don't miss the Bouanania Medersa (Qur'anic School) between the
two Tala'as with the entrance on Tala'a Kebira; the Attarine Medersa at the
bottom of Tala'a Kebira, the Moulay Idriss Zawiya (shrine), the Karaouiyne Mosque,
the tanneries, Seffarine Square and the Nejjarine Museum. There are other
museums such as Batha and Belghazi which are worth a visit too. Note that
non-Muslims are not allowed inside mosques and zawiyas. A visit to the old
Jewish Quarter, Fes El Jdid, is also interesting; there's a synagogue
museum and
cemetery.
Bouanania, Tala'a Sghira |
Guides
Employing a properly trained guide who speaks your language is a good idea if you only have a few days in Fez as you will then get the best out of the Medina. The usual rate is around Dh150 per half day. If you don't intend to shop, tell the guide so. You can be sure that shopping with a guide puts up prices by around 50%.
You may well be pestered by small boys or young men insisting on showing you the medina. Do your best to shrug them off as only official guides (wearing a permit) are allowed to assist tourists. You'll pay more for anything you buy if you're accompanied. If necessary, you can call on the Tourist Police who are visible in the medina (wearing navy blue), and have their headquarters at Bab Boujloud.
BEWARE: It has come to our notice that tourists are being approached by Moroccan men who board the train at Meknès (just before Fez) and try to lure them away from the guesthouses they've booked. Alternatively they offer their services as guides. There are also men on motor-bikes that approach motorists as they're arriving in Fez, with the same ideas. Don't use the services of these men. They are touts and con-men (and make lousy guides!) and should be avoided. It's best to rely on your guesthouse to recommend a guide they know.
In the Medina
Copper worker in Place Seffarine
Petit Bazar du Bon Accueil, antique shop on Tala'a Sghira |
The medina has specific
areas for different kinds of goods, eg the tanneries and surrounding areas for
buying leather clothing, bags, pouffes, belts and shoes; the coppersmith areas
for trays, teapots, plates and basins; tailoring where you can have a djellaba made
(traditional hooded robe); babouches - slippers with pointed toes that come in yellow or
white leather for men, and a multitude of designs, colours and fabrics for
women; ornate yellow gold wedding jewellery; and carpentry, including gorgeous
golden thrones for weddings, carved tables and artefacts. There are excellent
craft stalls selling lighting made of metalwork or thin, brightly dyed
goatskin stretched over frames and painted, the ceramics for which Fez is famous (particularly blue and
white), carpets both old and new, antique shops featuring jewellery, objets
d'art, furniture and fabrics, including particularly fine embroidery from
various parts of Morocco. Look out too for hendiras, the traditional
cloaks of wool and linen (and sometimes sequins) that Berber mothers wove for their marriageable daughters, as well as cushion covers and
traditional wedding belts. The brightly coloured throws and scarves
you'll see are made from vegetable silk of aloe fibres, wash well and don't
shrink. Near the Moulay Idriss Shrine, you'll find stalls selling votive offerings such as candles, incense sticks and pieces of frankincense and musk with charcoal to burn it. There are also shops selling gold-embroidered clothes for weddings and circumcisions, and it's here you'll find a real red fez complete with tassel. This makes a good souvenir, cheap at around Dh20 each. The Henna Souk off Tala'a Kebira stocks ceramics as well as traditional cosmetics, argane oil (excellent for skin care), soaps and essential oils (cedarwood and rose are particularly good in Morocco, along with lavender, eucalyptus, spearmint and citrus oils), as well as equipment for applying henna in pretty designs to hands and feet, usually done for weddings and celebrations.
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Bargaining
Much has been written about bargaining for goods in Morocco. Perhaps it's good to bear in mind that, as a Westerner, you are always going to pay more than a local. The point should be reached where you are happy with the price, and so is the vendor - a true 'win-win' situation. By all means bargain, it's expected, and you can get some very good deals.
Shopping in the Ville Nouvelle (new city)
Shopping in the new part of Fez is more formal, with most of the shops centred around Boulevards Mohamed V and Hassan II. There's no bargaining here. Look out for superbly embroidered fabrics for women and good shoe shops. The Central Market (ask the taxi driver for the Marché Centrale) is found on Boulevard Mohammed V. Here you'll find a vast array of fish and shellfish fresh from the coast (except on Fridays), all types of meat, beautifully fresh vegetables, spices, flowers, fruit, olives of various flavours, nuts, dried fruit and groceries. The two alcohol shops in Fez are found on either side of the market, where you can find good local beer and wine, as well as imported beer, wines and spirits. Note that these are closed during Ramadan, and for three days each side of Ramadan and other religious holidays. Alcohol is also available in the big supermarkets, though during Ramadan the cellars are closed. At this time, you might be lucky and find some wine at the grocer's in the Central Market.
The Central Market in the Nouvelle Ville: fresh fish ... ... and fresh fruit and vegetables
Art in Fez
More and more art galleries seem to be opening in Fez, some private and some municipal. There's the Al Houria Cultural Complex in Avenue Palestine (a wonderful building shaped like a stepped pyramid or, some say, like the hanging gardens of Babylon) that has exhibition space as well as a theatre. There's the municipal gallery close to McDonald's. The French Institute often has art exhibitions. The Fes Festival of World Sacred Music headquarters at Dar Tazi in the Batha area of the Medina hosts a contemporary art exhibition during the Festival each year (8-16 June 2012). In the new city, the excellent Orientalist Gallery can be found on Avenue Abdelaziz Boutaleb (a continuation of Avenue Chefchaouni) and is a superb space for the varied exhibitions it holds. Café Clock often has art installations.
The Galerie Jamil des Beaux Arts is near Seffarine Square (with your back to the Karaouine Library, take the street to your right, and the gallery is on your right). There's a wide selection of work here, ranging from oils by Hassan Jamil to work by his son Mohamed Jamil who works in the gallery, and even some interesting Jewish antique furniture.
Medina
So-called 'palace' restaurants serve traditional Moroccan food to as many tourists as they can squeeze in and tend only to be open for lunch. They are best avoided! Good medina restaurants are:
Street Food
You'll find numerous small shops offering sandwiches in both the Medina and the New City. The sandwiches are usually small baguettes or round breads and your choice of filling cooked to order. Choose from an array of vegetables, olives, chicken or turkey, kidneys, minced beef, fried eggs, sausage and spicy tomato sauce. A side-order of chips or maqouda (deep-fried potato fritters) are usually available too. These make a good snack or lunch and are very cheap, usually around Dh14 to Dh18.
The traditional soup of Morocco, harira, can also be found at every street restaurant in the Medina. It costs a few dirhams per bowl. Harira is a thick tomato soup with meat, chickpeas and coriander and is served with a squeeze of lemon. Also good is b'sara, a thick soup of dried broad beans with garlic and olive oil, traditionally eaten for breakfast.
Snail stands are fairly common, with the best known one on the the corner of Derb en Horra and Tala'a Sghira. Pull the snails from their shells with the pin provided; the broth is quite spicy and supposed to guard against colds.
Markets for self-catering
Fresh fruit and vegetables at Sagha Market
Fresh and prepared olives |
If you're self-catering,
check out the markets at Boujloud and at R'cif. These are good to
wander in, even if you don't intend to buy. There are vegetables and
fruit galore, fresh and organically grown, as well as various types of bread,
patisserie, spices, legumes and eggs (loose!). While you can buy meat here
(anything from camel heads to live rabbits and pigeons), it might be safer for Western
palates to shop for meat and fish in the Central Market in the New City (see
below). There are also Western-style supermarkets in the city; ask
the taxi driver for Acima (medium-sized) or Marjane (bigger, with more choice).
Eggs and dried fruit, Sagha Market |
Eating Out: New City
There are western-style restaurants in the New City, usually licensed. The Majestic and Trois Sources will organise a taxi to and from the medina if you phone ahead.
Many of these restaurants also serve traditional Moroccan food. There are numerous cafés, juice bars, ice cream parlours and patisseries. It's perfectly acceptable to buy croissants or petits pains in a patisserie and then eat them at a street café. Coffee is generally good; the national beverage is very sweet mint tea.
What to wear: It's not necessary to cover up completely, but bear in mind that it's best to dress conservatively to avoid unwanted attention. This means knee-length skirts or pants for women, as skimpy clothing, bare midriffs and strappy tops are not suitable. For men, shirts or t-shirts are preferable to vests.
Ramadan: Don't eat, drink or smoke on the street. Be discrete and aware that Moroccans fast from dawn to sundown. There is no refreshment service on trains during this time, though travellers are exempt from fasting. Ramadan in 2012 falls between mid-July and mid-August, approximately.
Open displays of affection are not acceptable. You can hold hands, but smooching on the street in out!
FES FESTIVAL OF WORLD SACRED MUSIC 2012: 8-16 June Re-enchanting the world
Whirling Dervishes from Konya in Turkey perform at Bab al Makina
©Helen Ranger updated 2011
