The green roof with tall minaret is part of the oldest university in the world.

Ancient doors in alleys - who and how many have entered here?

Fes.

Ever since I was little that name had conjured up exotic images of Sheherazade in a mysterious harem, camels waiting outside…

I was off by a continent but Fes, in Morroco, still exudes that same ancient mystical charm.

We drove first to a view point to see the lay of the land. The city sprawls along many hilltops in browns, whites and greens. A 15 km long city walls still winds its way through tight knot of houses and streets.

The view we enjoyed most was the sight of the world’s first university. The University of Al Qarawiynn, was founded in 895 CE by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri. A woman! She used her inheritance to establish a large mosque with a school, becoming a leading spiritual and educational centre in the Muslim world. The University still operates today!

Bab Mansour, the monumental gate in the city wall to downtown Fes, was build in the 17th century. It served as the ceremonial entrance to the kasbah, or royal citadel. It, too, still stands today, echoing images and voices of its past.

We walked along the beige city walls, with storks perched atop each outcrop. Our guide took us to a pottery workshop. Fes might be one of the most creative cities in the world: pottery, mosaics, leather, fabric… everything is crafted here as it has been for centuries. The mosaics are impressive when you watch the workers hammer the tiniest bits of glazed stone and then place them, upside down, in intrigued patterns.

We walked the medina’s narrowest alleys, some not much wider than a person. I noticed that the ‘street’ signs here are in three languages: Arabic, French and Berber.

We watched yarn dyers as they dipped skeins and torn fabric, including old blue jeans, into vats of dye and hung the colourful fabrics to dry. Fes is a feast for the eyes. Among the colours of bundles of yarn drying overhead, baskets full of spices lining the alleys, are the different outfits worn by the people but also the stalls lined with vegetables, fish, cats weaving in and out of everything. Fes embodies the essence of life!

And then, suddenly, we had reached the highlight of Fes, perhaps of our trip. We stepped into a narrow hallway, up and up and up ancient stone steps inside a shop. Then we were ushered outside onto a wooden balcony and there… below us, lay the most iconic sight of Morocco: the leather tanneries of Fes. Like a child’s box of paints, the famous vats were there.

How often had I seen photos of these vats and wondered what that would like like in real life? And here I was… I kept pinching myself to be gazing down on these amazing vats.

Surrounded by 3 or 4 story tall stone houses and shops, the vats cannot be seen from the street. You can’t actual see them until you enter one of the shops and step out back onto a balcony.

Believed to date back to the 9th - 12th century, leather has been tanned here ever since. Hides of cows, sheep, goats, and camels are processed by first soaking in white liquids - mixtures of cow urine, pigeon feces, quicklime, salt, and water – to clean and soften the tough skin. This takes two to three days and prepares the hides to absorb the dyes. Then they are soaked in dyeing solutions using natural colours like poppy for red, indigo for blue, and henna for orange. After the dyeing, they are dried under the sun. And then, once you step back inside, you can buy from a dazzling array of belts, vests, purses, backpacks, briefcases, stools and much more. All made from locally tanned and dyed leather. (Yes, I brought back a belt for Kees and fun folding wallets for our grandsons).

We walked through a madrassa, a beautiful historic school right in the old medina. Then ate lunch in a beautifully preserved caravansery, gathering energy to stroll some more among the wonderful stalls with fruits, wheelbarrows full of local pottery, and colourful people.

At a weaving workshop we saw how threads are made from the agave plant, spun and woven into naturally dyed fabrics. Ah, Fes - there is no end to the vibrant colours of this ancient city!

RESOURCES:

https://www.visitmorocco.com/en/travel/fez

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/Fez

The Donkeys of Fez: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/moroccos-extraordinary-donkeys-40973739/

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