Fez, With a Little Help from a New Friend

Friday, April 24

After breakfast in the beautiful courtyard of our riad, we set off with Thomi, an official city guide.  Our riad host, Mohamed, had suggested that we engage a guide because, as he said, "The monuments don't speak."  He was correct, of course, and Thomi added greatly to our understanding and appreciation of Fez.  Because it was Friday, Islam's day of prayer, most of the shops in the souk were shuttered and the narrow lanes relatively uncrowded, a plus for us.

We began by looking at the 14th century water clock, several storeys above the street.  This elaborate construction of cedar beams, chains, bowls, balances, dripping water, self-opening windows, and   gongs somehow chimed each hour, back in the day.  Just across the lane was the Medersa Bou Inania, one of the oldest of Fez's thirteen boarding schools organized to prepare students for university.  The courtyard of this 14th century school is stunning -- beautiful zellij tiles, topped by intricately carved plaster and cedar, with an ablution fountain in the center.  Thomi explained the ablution ritual and even showed us the "shortcut" method using a stone instead of water, when no fountain is at hand.  He also discussed some of the measures (including strategically located "quick mosques") taken when one is not near a mosque during the five-a-day calls to prayer.  Tuition, room and board at the medersas were free and the focus was on the Koran; to enter university (also free), the entire 646 pages of the book must be memorized!

Fez is also home to the world's oldest university, Kairaouine University.  Founded in 859, it predates the oldest European universities by three hundred years.  Its associated mosque is one of the largest in the world, and can accommodate 20,000.  This is the intellectual and spiritual center of Fez, which prides itself in being the center of the nation's intellectual and spiritual life.

Thomi led us into the oldest (9th century) part of the city through narrow lanes we'd never have entered on our own.  He pointed out the deceptively small and unadorned doorways that conceal clusters of large and beautiful homes.  Along the way, we encountered an artisan running silk threads between widely-spaced nails embedded in the walls; he was spinning the threads into knotted buttons, braid and trim.  Much of this old part of the medina is undergoing restorations supported by UNESCO.  King Mohamed VI, evidently beloved and progressive, has also been a force for renovation and infrastructure improvement in Fez, his wife's home town.

The tannery is being reconstruction and modernization, and with UNESCO support, workers are engaged there 24/7.  Nearby, the mausoleum and mosque of the Idriss dynasty, Morocco's founding imperial family, evidently set a speed record for the medina's restoration projects.  With a mandate from the king, a ten-year project was completed in three, and the important cultural and religious complex is simply glorious.

Workshops housing knife sharpeners, firearms makers and restorers, blacksmiths and metal workers were clustered together in one area that also included a selection of enormous cooking pots available to rent for banquets and feasts.

While Thomi answered the midday call to prayer, we visited a government-run rug-making cooperative founded to provide work and support for widows and single mothers.  Much to our surprise (and that of those who know us well), we bought a rug!  After lunch, Thomi and a representative of the cooperative took us to a nearby Post Office to arrange for shipping.  I'm not sure I believe it's actually going to find its way to our home, but we shall see.

There were still nooks and crannies of the medina to explore this afternoon. A caravanserai, which once housed traveling merchants, their beasts of burden, and their wares, is now home to a silk weaving market.  In the original Jewish quarter, another market featured herbs and spices used in traditional medicine, cooking, and soaps.  In a narrow lane, we could hear the sounds of women laughing and talking as they enjoyed a sauna while in the next building, we visited the 75-year old man charged with keeping the sauna's wood-burning oven filled with a constant supply of the wood and sawdust which surrounded him.

For this afternoon's final sights, Thomi arranged for a car and driver to take us from the medina to a panoramic viewpoint above the old city, where we picked out the places we'd visited earlier in the day.  Then, it was on to the Royal Palace, with its seven bronze doors, and the adjacent mellah, or Jewish quarter and commercial center.  Our last stop was at a ceramics workshop where we marveled at the processes involved in transforming gray clay to gorgeous mosaics and pottery.  We mused a bit about how much it would have cost to ship a large mosaic table, fountain, or sink home...

Before returning to our riad, we walked a little bit on our own in the souk.  After a filling lunch, we opted to skip dinner altogether, so that was it for the day.

Some general notes about Fez (and elsewhere in Morocco):

• This is a city of beautiful tiled fountains, which supply drinking water from the Rif and Middle Atlas mountains, which border the city.
• Olives reign over the Moroccan countryside and appear here and elsewhere at every meal.  Cumin replaces pepper alongside salt on the table.  Fassi (residents of Fez) apparently have a weakness for sweets; honey-coated treats are piled into huge displays and perfume the air in the souk.
• Moroccans are multilingual.  The native languages are Arabic and Berber, and in Fez, French seems to be used as commonly in signs and conversation with foreigners.  France and Spain both colonized this country and Spanish knowledge is also common; English (of course) is widely used.  (Once again, Americans abroad are spoiled.)  Thomi, our guide today, speaks six languages, and a couple of times during the day, he stopped to exchange pleasantries with groups of Germans on a tour!