Fez medina
The medina and its surroundings
Fez el Bali : Festival of World Sacred Music / May or June.
Every year at the end of spring, Fez is transformed into a world crossroads of spirituality, tolerance and emotion.
The Festival opens more and more on the city and becomes accessible to the greatest number of people because in addition to concerts in the afternoon at the Jnan Sbil Garden and at Bab Makina in the evening, the organizers offer free concerts either in the medina at Bab Boujloud or in the new city where the artists of the official selection perform.
The medina of Fez, classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, is considered to be the largest Arab city that has preserved its architecture and, above all, its ancestral way of life over the centuries. It is estimated that there are approximately 400,000 inhabitants within the walls. This is what makes this medina so exceptional.
A living testimony of the past, Fez is a city that triggers passions, no one can remain indifferent to the beauty
of its monuments, mosques and palaces rivaling with architectural richness having no other purpose than the elevation
of the soul towards the beautiful and sacred.
Not to be missed :
the Bouinania medersa, the Karaouiyine and Andalus mosques, the mausoleum of Moulay Idriss, the Mokri, Glaoui, Ba
Mohamed Chergui palaces. The Nejarine museum, the Seffarin square and the various souks of the historical center...
Beyond the historical sites, Fez has to be discovered like Venice, getting lost in the maze of its lanes from which one always ends up getting out. Day and night the medina offers a thousand and one faces that every one must keep preciously in the depths of its memory.
But Fez is also the living encyclopedia of ancestral trades, the gestures and know-how being transmitted from Maalem
(master) to apprentice, on the mode of companionship.
From skin tanners to woodcarvers, the full range of trades is represented.
When you pass in front of an open workshop, do not hesitate to stop and admire the craftsmen.
Absolutely to be seen, at the exit of the medina (towards the East), the pottery factories of which the most famous,
Art Naji will allow you to understand the long process of manufacturing zelliges...
Fez El Bali is not a "museum town", it is a city where real life plays on passing time and successive centuries.
A difficult city, full of contrasts and reserves, Fez is not easily accessible to visitors. Like these splendid
residences that hide behind blind and crumbling facades, Fez gradually reveals itself to those who know how to love
and respect it.
A major renovation work was carried out in the Medina in 2016 to restore its former splendour. The restored medersas, the development of the river banks, the restored souks and foundouks and the tanneries all rebuilt to respect environmental standards, give the medina of Fez a new face that has preserved all its authenticity.
Fez Jdid : Located outside the medina and adjoining the Royal Palace, Fez Jdid is best known for its commercial artery linking the beautiful garden of Jnan Sbil to the Mellah.
Mellah : located under the protection of the Royal Palace, the Mellah Jewish quarter is typically Arab-Andalusian style. Must see places : the synagogue, the Jewish cemetery, the jewellery district and the esplanade and doors of the Royal Palace.