Fès (also spelled Fez and in Arabic, Fas) is the
third largest city in
Morocco, after Casablanca and Rabat. It lies in a valley bordered by the
foothills of the
Atlas Mountains, and on the
old crossroads of
caravan routes connecting the Saharan empires like Timbuktu with the Atlantic and the Mediterranean shipping lanes.
The
most ancient and
impressive of the
imperial cities (Fès, Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat are known as the Imperial Cities, each having been the country’s capital at some time during its history),
it is still considered the
cultural and
spiritual center of Morocco, the
holiest city in the Islamic world after Mecca and Medina .
Fes is three distinct parts:
Fes el-Bali (
Old Fes),
Fes el-Jdid (
New Fes), and the modern, French-built
Ville Nouvelle.
Fes el-Bali is the
best preserved, continuously inhabited,
medieval city still in existence. So precious are Fes’s history, architecture, and culture, that it has been declared a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Its
medina is an unmappable
maze of more than
9,000 alleys where
mules are the only form of transport and life is a
fascinating blend of
medieval and
modern. A far reaching
conservation campaign has been attempting to preserve and interpret the
remarkable historic legacy, with new uses being sought for
fabulous old palaces, many of which are being restored by both Moroccan and foreign families.
Fes el-Jdid, south of the medina, is a 13th-century ‘new’ town, home to the
Dar el-Makhzen or
Royal Palace (restored but closed to the public) and
Mellah, the
former Jewish quarter. The
Ville Nouvelle is the city’s modern
business and
commercial center with wide boulevards, hotels, restaurants, cafés, bookshops, the university, the railway station and main bus terminus.
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Related Fez Content
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
Related Morocco Content
The Columbus World Travel Guide has been published for 26 years and is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.
Word Travels is a comprehensive travel guide covering hundreds of cities and holiday resorts in more than 125 countries.
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