Restoration Projects                                                          back to home page

Fez Riads has been set up with the express intention of supporting restoration work  in the Fez medina carried out in a private capacity.    December 2006 saw the first projects get off the ground, and Fez Riads would like to thank all the guesthouses featured on this site, who have contributed a minimum of 2% of clients' accommodation costs to the restoration fund.  Thanks also to The View from Fez for their constant support and to David Amster for his inspiration and practical help.

LIHOUDI AND ZENJFOUR FOUNTAINS (July 2010)

The grand fountain in Lihoudi had damaged zellij and needed a clean. It's not connected to the water supply.

 

 

 The Lihoudi fountain after repair.

  

In Derb el Miter, Zenjfour, this fountain also had damaged zellij and needed cleaning.

       

 

Now that this fountain has been repaired, Ahmed Azami, owner of the nearby Dar  Anebar, has offered to connect it to his own water supply and provide a pump so that the local community can use it.

      

 

HAFFARINE & SIDI AHMED BINYAHYA FOUNTAINS (June 2010) Map reference 6 & 7

This fountain in Haffarine was in a sorry state, with missing zellij (mosaic tiles) and damaged surround. It is not supplied with water.

 

  The restoration has now been completed. We'd like to thank Wendy and Ray Ackerman from Cape Town for their donation towards the restoration of this fountain.

 

 
The fountain in Derb Sidi Ahmed Binyahya is connected to the water supply. There's a tap in a box on wall adjacent. It was very dirty and needed a lot of cleaning,

 The fountain after cleaning and repair to zellij and surrounds.

 

 

 

 

DERB RIHANA FOUNTAIN PROJECT (April 2010) Map reference 5

The small fountain in Derb Rihana is well-loved by local residents who care for the garden around it. But its zellij (mosaics) were falling off, it had lost decoration at the top, and the basin was covered with earth. There's no longer a water supply to this fountain. We have now planted several plants here that have survived and the local population have added several more.

Work on this fountain and the one in Derb Bouhaj was carried out by the restoration company T2M and the zelliji is Noureddine Hilal assisted by Adnan Chaouqi.

 

DERB BOUHAJ FOUNTAIN PROJECT (April 2010) Map reference 4

This small fountain at the lower end of Derb Bouhaj near the skin-washing facility had lost most of its mosaic tiles and was filled with rubbish. There's no longer a water supply to this fountain.

                                       

 

 

GUERNIZ FOUNTAIN PROJECT (June 2009) Map reference 3

This fountain, near the Guerniz Qur'anic school restored by David Amster, was an eyesore. It has now been cleaned up, and the next stage will be to fill the basin and cover it with zellij. There is no longer any water supply to this fountain.

 

   fountain full of rubbish

  

    fountain cleaned up

 

 

RUBBLE REMOVAL: a clean-up in Zqaq Lma (May 2009)

  

   Before ...

       

  ... and after clean-up

Residents of Zqaq Lma were delighted to see their street cleared of the rubble that had been there for months. The rubble had been left over from the repaving of this street, and nobody seemed to be taking any responsibility for removing it. Alerted to the problem by concerned residents, Fez Riads came to the rescue and funded the clean-up. With thanks to the two Khalids who did all the hard work.
 

GARDEN  PROJECT in Kessariat Sanhaji, on Zqaq Rouha between Tala'a Kebira and Tala'a Seghira  

Map reference 2

Here's the square before Fez Riads took on the project:

Kessariat Sanhaji, between Tala'a Kebira and Tala'a Seghira

And here it is now (June 08):

Entirely financed by contributions from the guesthouses featured on this website, the garden is a great delight to the local community. Ricky Martin, who ran the project and planted the tubs, reports fierce pride on the part of the locals. Youssef El Alouai, who lives in nearby Dar Moulay Slimane, has been hired to maintain the garden. This square used to be part of his own garden, before the apartments were built around it, so he has a particular interest in keeping it tidy and watered.

 

FOUNTAIN  PROJECT in Derb Jama El Hamiya   Map reference 1

This beautiful fountain in the Chrabliyine district of the medina was identified as needing cleaning and restoration.  It's situated in a small square near the ancient house, Dar Dmana, and a magnificent old mulberry tree.  The fountain is fed by a natural spring and local people come to collect water and to wash their horses.

Derb Jama El Hamiya, Chrabliyine, July 2006
 

       

All photos: Helen Ranger 2006

There are 4 steps to the project:

Step 1:  Cleaning the zellij

Here Si Mohamed and his helpers are hard at work draining the basin to clean it, and then cleaning the calcium off the zellij:

Cleaning photos: Josephine Kwan

The after-pictures show an excellent job has been done:

 

UPDATE February 2007

Si Mohamed Benchrif and his trusty helpers Noureddine Ahab and Si Mohamed Tanhim set to work to repair the zellij on the fountain.

 

Noureddine fits in the small pieces of mosaic                                                                                Si Mohamed cleans up the final product

UPDATE October 2007

The damaged medluk surround of the fountain has now been restored and new medluk applied. Now that it's dried out, it looks very good. Our thanks to David Amster's team of workers for this job.

                                  

Damaged zellij before ...                                                                                                                        Restored zellij afterwards

 

 

Qur'anic School window project   Map reference 3

This project was identified and completed by Fez resident David Amster during the first half of 2005.  David owns the website www.houseinfez.com which contains a wealth of information on Fez and buying and restoring properties in the medina.  The proceeds from renting out his property, Dar Bennis, has funded this project.   The following photographs show the window frame and mashrabiya panel  that were removed and reconstructed.  Where the old wood was beyond repair, pieces of old cedarwood were used to replace it.  

                                                                     

Badly damaged Qur'anic school window and mashrabiya panel, Guerniz area of the Fez medina    (following photos by David Amster)

The reconstruction process took six months of dedicated work by the master carpenter, Si Abderrahim ....

                                                                         

As much of the old mashrabiya as possible was retained.                        Here Si Abderrahim carves the mashrabiya panel by hand, using old cedarwood.  

                                                             

Here the windows and mashrabiya panel have been restored.  The 'new' wood is as yet unstained to match the original wood.  Hand-crafted nails were made in Meknes.

                                                             

The finished windows ...                                                                                            and mashrabiya panel ...

Si Abderrahim with the finished window and panel in situ.

 

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©Helen Ranger 2005