Fes, Morocco

For my third weekend adventure I went on a day trip to the city of Fes!

(Side note: As I have been to several different cities in Morocco, I can now confirm that if you are a cat lover then Morocco is the place for you. There are cats absolutely everywhere!!! I think I see on average 10+ cats every morning on my walk to school. The city of Fes was no different and I have included a few photos of said creatures at the end.)

After last weekend’s experience with the taxi kabir, my traveling companion and I opted to take the train instead of a taxi as our mode of transportation. The train ride is about 50 minutes from the Meknes Al-Amir station to the Fes station. We bought second class tickets for both ways, but somehow ended up in first class on the way back. The total cost for tickets was around 66.89 MAD (or $6.69 USD). While this excursion was done on a Saturday, the train was not crowded going either direction. We took the 8:38am train in the morning and were able to wander around the city without the pressure of crowds of people, which was nice. Fes does get fairly crowded as the day wears on, not only with tourists, but with locals as well.

Many if not most people will take a taxi from the train station in Fes directly to the old part of the city (old medina); however, we decided to walk. The old city is where the tanneries, Al Qaraouine University, Medersa al-Attarine, and the سوق (souk or market) are located. The walk from the train station to the old city is about a 4km walk (or 2.5 miles). This is the reason why most people opt for a taxi, especially if you visit on a hot day. At the end of the day we had walked over 13 miles.

Along our walk we stopped to marvel at the exterior gate of King Mohammed VI’s palace. Due to its continuous usage by the royal family, the palace is not open to visitors. This beautiful gate (Place des Alaouites) was constructed in the 20th century although the first foundation of the royal dwelling inside dates back to the 13th century. A vast majority of the construction of the palace dates from the 17th-20th centuries.

Tanneries

I would say that if Fes was known for one reason it would be their leather tanneries and the market of leather goods. (Although they do also make & sell metal goods as well.) There are three different tanneries located in Fes: the Ain Azliten tannery, the Dar Dbagh Al-Chouara tannery, and the Sidi Moussa tannery. This is something I only learned afterward as I didn’t realize there was more than one. The latter of these tanneries is said to be the oldest. It dates back to the 12th century and is thought to be the oldest in the world still in use today.

We used google maps to guide us to the general location of the Sidi Moussa tannery although it didn’t end up being very helpful. (I suppose this was a foreshadowing as to what would come later in the day.) We knew that we were in the right part of town as we could smell the tannery even though we couldn’t see it. Personally I didn’t think the smell was that bad, but it does have a way of getting into one’s mouth which makes it ten times worse.

After wandering around a bit we saw this sign:

The man inside pointed us in the direction of a set of stairs and said we could see the tannery by going up. There was no fee to be paid to access the view of the tannery, but as we climbed up the several sets of stairs we were led through room upon room of leather goods that were for sale. (So I suppose their sales make up for not charging an entrance fee.) The view from the top of the terrace was really neat, but the smell was definitely worse. The foul oder, I learned, is due to the use of excrement (pigeon in particular) in the tanning process.

University of Al Quaraouiyine & Medersa al-Attarine

The University of Al Quaraouiyine (or Al-Karaouine) is said to be the oldest university still in existence today. This school of islamic studies was established in 859 AD. Unfortunately because the university is also a mosque, non Muslims are not allowed to enter the premises.

Medersa al-Attarine is also another school in the old part of Fes. This one was established in 1324 AD by a Marinid Sultan and is known for its beautiful architecture. While we did walk by this school, we did not end up going inside as there was an entrance fee.

Lunch

For lunch we discovered and tried out a restaurant called “Restaurant Zohra.” We were the only customers at the time, which was a bit odd, but this was in part due to the time we were eating at. We had lunch just after noon. This is early not only for Moroccans, who eat around 2pm, but also for the French, Spanish, & Italian tourists visiting Morocco. (They comprise the majority of tourists.) For the cheap price of 90 dirham ($9.00 USD) we were able to order the “Poulet au amandes” tagine (chicken with almonds) with a Moroccan salad, lubia (stewed & spiced white beans), and zaalouk (stewed spiced eggplant) and a dessert of fruit. The chicken with almonds was very very delicious and is something I would definitely recommend trying if you ever get the chance.

Marinid Tombs

Towards the end of our day we made the 30 minute or so trek up a nearby hill to see the ruins of the Marinid Tombs. The tombs are located just outside the walls of المدينة القديمة (the old city) past the Cimetière bab guissa (an Muslim cemetery). There is no actual road, but merely a dirt path, if you can even call it a path, up to the site. We were a little on edge as this was a bit of a sketchy area including small caves with livestock, some not so nice looking men, and trash everywhere. The view of Fes from the top of the hill is worth it in spite of the potentially harrowing trek. It was neat to stand over the city and hear the mashup of the calls to prayer starting in different parts of the city at slightly different times and overlapping.

The tombs are in utter ruins and there is absolutely no protection around them to preserve their context. Little is known about this site as no real archaeological excavation has been done in this area. The tombs, which used to be part of a royal necropolis, date back to the 13th-15th centuries and are attributed to the Marinid Dynasty of the time.

Conclusion

At the end of our day as we headed back to the train station, we got lost. 🙂 Google maps was absolutely no help and low cell service did not aid our dilemma either. What definitely didn’t help were the men everywhere talking to us “Where are you from? Oh, you need help, this direction” “No, no, the tanneries are this way” “…I am not a guide, I am student like you.”

A man even stopped us to tell us that the way we were headed was a dead end. We found out a few minutes later that it was not in fact a dead end, but the way out of the old city… We also found ourselves in a few areas of town that were more than a little scary, but this gave us the chance to practice our straight/blank face, head down, speed walking. Long story short I would recommend finding yourself a guide who knows the area lest you get lost like us or at the very least going with a travel companion.

As I mentioned previously, we ended up in first class on our train ride back, which was quite nice as there was AC. I was quite excited as I got to, in part, live out my Harry Potter dream. It was nothing spectacular, but the train car was set up similar to the train cars on the Hogwarts express, complete with a man (instead of a woman like in the books) with a trolley cart selling drinks & snacks.

And now the promised cat photos: