Cultural Capital of Morocco

We ventured south from the Rif Mountains into Fes, the cultural and spiritual capital (and former political capital) of Morrocco. As a side note, the city in Morocco is FES, while the hat (thought to originate from Turkey) is the FEZ. Fes is a pretty good size city split into two main parts: the Medina and the Ville Nouvelle. The Ville Nouvelle was established under the French Protectorate just after 1912. The Medina, on the other hand, is the largest medina in the world (about 540 acres), dates back to the 800-900s and includes the oldest university in the world and one of the King's Royal Palaces. The Medina is a winding mix of over 900 narrow alley ways with shops, homes, schools, mosques and every other building type you can imagine. We were given serious warnings about not losing our guide because we wouldn't be able to find our way out -- which seemed funny until we were in there! Yikes!

We did a long walking tour in the medina and visited three specific craft co-ops to learn how the traditional crafts are made. First we went to a mosaic tile school and co-op. The Moroccan government realized that they have all of these exquisite mosaics that were crafted by hand, but as repairs were needed, they had very few people who were trained in the traditional way of sketching, hand carving and setting the tiles. The school aims to keep the craft alive and also have artisans who will be able to repair Moroccan treasures in the future. We also visited a tannery and saw (and more notably smelled) the process of how they create leather from cows, goats, and camels. Finally, we visited a weaving coop that weaves fabric for scarves, clothing, bed sheets, etc, all from agave fiber. Each of these craft traditions is in danger of extinction as it gets harder to recruit and train artisans with modest salaries and the competition from mass production.

We stayed in a Riad at one far corner of the medina, right by the wall. The Riads are largely now converted into hotels, but we did get to visit one that is still occupied by the family who has owned it for generations. Now there are three generations living in the home, but originally it was owned by the matriarch's great great grandfather. While we were there, we enjoyed some music and dancing and a lovely dinner of pastilla. We left with full hearts and bellies!