Morocco – Fez – Funky Adventurer

October 13, 2023

Today we are exploring Fez. It is the oldest of Morocco’s four imperial cities; it was founded on the banks of the Wadi Fès about 789. The city is almost completely surrounded by low hills covered with olive groves and orchards.

We spent the day exploring the Fez el Bali Medina a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where life unfolds as it did centuries ago. It is home to the oldest university in the world, this 1,200-year-old city, stands as one of the world’s largest, best-preserved medieval fortiﬁed cities. Behind the walls are homes for rich and poor, artesian shops, food stalls, universities and places of worships.

Wandering the narrow alleys of the Medina there are doors that lead to homes and shops. Behind the doors can be poor homes or elegant homes with servants. We got to go into one of the elegant homes and it was spectacular! I peaked inside a door that was open in the poor section and it was very cramped without light.

We went to a carpet artesian shop and learned about the process of making the carpets. Women are the carpet makers!!! It can take up to 17 months to make an 8×10 carpet.

Our next stop was ACH Ceramics. The artisans there hand make the beautiful ceramics that Fez is known for and use century old techniques. The special clay is harvested in the mountains and is used to create everything from tiles used in mosaics to large decorative pieces. The man who is the potter was incredible creating 5 different pieces in just minutes.

Wandering though the market stalls we came upon a lady making a dough similar to philo that they add chunks of honey to then you just grab a chunk and roll it up and stuff it in your mouth….YUM!!!

The textile shop with all of the hand dyed thread and the large weaving machine was a fun stop. Did you know that the fibers that are in the Agave plant can be woven into beautiful thread?

The tannery was an interesting stop. I had seen this on a National Geo show but seeing it and smelling it was incredible. The white pits are used to separate the hair from the skin. Then they skins are soaked in the dye pits. All of the dye is natural from plants. The leather is buttery soft. The smell is horrible and they give you mint leaves to smell.

After a full day of exploring Fez we headed back to the hotel for a quick change and then went to a a traditional Riad in the medina for an incredible meal and a discussion of Moroccan women’s history & culture with Fatima a sociality professor at Fez university. It was an insightful and inspiring experience!

The day was overwhelming with the amount of knowledge that I gained about the Moroccan people, their history, religion and their crafts.

Definitely a “Best Day Ever”