Fez sits in north-central Morocco, east of Rabat and a good stretch north. Yes—It’ll be a tiring day, but you’ll make it. We spent four days between two riads on the edge of the medina and loved the maze, the food, the tiles, and the moments that tested our patience in the best travel way. Yes—Fez is absolutely worth visiting if you want to experience the raw, historic Morocco with its soul, chaos, and craft all in one place. We got lost in the labyrinth (Google Maps gave up), ate pastilla with locals, and found the Marinid Tombs for the best city view. Smelly leather tanneries, quiet madrasas, and enough alleys to humble any seasoned map reader.
Visit the Attarine and Bou Inania medersas, masterpieces of Merinid architecture
Relax, cool down, and watch the Fes locals enjoying the park too. Because of its historical significance, and cultural importance, it is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. More than half of the complex is taken up by an Andalusian-style garden, still used for cultural and religious events in summer. The work was sponsored by Maryam bint Mohammed bin Abdullah, the sister of Fatima al-Fihri, famed for establishing the University of al-Qarawiyyin – and the two mosques have historically been rivals.
Zaouia Moulay Idriss II
Inside the park is a “Bird Garden” which hosts more than thirty species of birds, local and imported, such as peacocks, parrots, and the North African ostrich. The city’s main museums are housed in historic monuments mentioned above, including the Nejjarine Museum, the Dar Batha Museum, and the Arms Museum in Borj Nord. Fez, along with Cordoba, was one of the centers of a Jewish intellectual and cultural renaissance that took place in the 10th and 11th centuries in Morocco and al-Andalus. Fez has preserved many of its historic hammams (public bathhouses in the Muslim world) which continue to be used by local people.
Several language institutes in Fez also organize cultural activities in addition to offering courses. The Al Houria Cultural Complex, opened in 2005, is a cultural center in the Ville Nouvelle that includes a theatre, a media library, and exhibition spaces. Zellij workshops in other cities, such as Meknes, Salé and Marrakesh, usually follow or emulate the craftsmanship style of Fez. The city is also one of the historical centers of Moroccan Sufism and a significant body of written works were devoted to its many Sufi walis (“saints” or teachers). They were generally built next to a well or natural spring which provided water, while the sloping topography of the city allowed for easy drainage.
Although its educational activities have disappeared, the Médersa Attarine remains a living testimony to the artistic and intellectual heyday of medieval Fez. Inside, you’ll discover the small rooms where students from all over the kingdom were housed for religious instruction. As you pass through the gate, you’ll understand why it has become the icon of the imperial city, photographed by fez bet thousands of visitors every day. Along the narrow streets, you’ll discover such wonders as the 13-window hydraulic clock facing the Médersa Bouanania, the interconnecting terraces and the historic fondouks. We were impressed by this labyrinth of 14,000 listed buildings, where 137 mosques rub shoulders with 23 public hammams. Fès el-Bali, Morocco’s largest medina, took us back in time.
This fortress, which is currently being restored, bears witness to the military architecture of the period and the desire to protect the imperial city. You can follow a signposted tour that reveals the past opulence of this palatial residence and testifies to the influence of the Glaoui family in the history of Maroc. Because of its large size, this palace was built outside the old medina to mark the royal power in the city’s urban planning. You can admire this spectacular façade, which stands opposite the entrance to the Jnan Sbil park.
Explore the Medina of Fez, a thousand-year-old labyrinth and the oldest in the world
Avoid locals trying to direct you to shady parking spots. By midday, tour groups gather near the tanneries and large madrasas; by late afternoon, the souk’s energy swells. This 13th-century city is an imperial city of long-lasting multicultural history, that reserves unexpected surprises for its visitors.
Seamless Delivery
You can make the climb at sunset, pausing to pick out the city’s landmarks, like the lofty minaret of the Mosque of al-Qarawiyyin and the royal palace, fringed by the Mellah (Jewish quarter). A stirring panorama of Old Fez awaits you at the ruins of a royal necropolis from the Marinid Dynasty (13th to 15th centuries). Now meticulously tended, the park has a large pond and water gardens where geometric fountains are festooned with zellige tiles, all bordered by geometric beds of roses, cactuses and low boxwood hedges.
When people talk about the Medina, they normally mean both Old Fez (Fes el-Bali) and the newer Fes el-Jdid, founded in the 13th century during the Marinid Dynasty. What is believed to be the largest pedestrian zone in the world is an indecipherable maze of more than 9,000 mostly nameless alleys. The bewitching Medieval city of Fez was founded on the banks of the Jawhar River in the 8th century by Idris I, a descendant of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.
Although the Idrisid realm was eventually reunified and enjoyed a period of peace under Ali ibn Muhammad and Yahya ibn Muhammad, it fell into decline again in the late 9th century. Andalusi families of mixed Arab and Iberian descent, who were expelled from Córdoba after a rebellion in 817–818 against al-Hakam I, were one major component of the immigrant population. The city was first founded in 789 as Madinat Fas on the southeast bank of the Jawhar River (now known as the Fez River) by Idris I, founder of the Idrisid dynasty. The two cities were united in 1070 and the name Fās was used for the combined site. During this period the capital city was known as al-ʿĀliyá, with the name Fās being reserved for the separate site on the other side of the river.
- Inside the park is a “Bird Garden” which hosts more than thirty species of birds, local and imported, such as peacocks, parrots, and the North African ostrich.
- It’s a major place of pilgrimage in the heart of the medina, as is the Mausoleum of Moulay Idriss I in the village of the same name, a few kilometers from Fès.
- Multiple moussems (Sufi religious festivals) have traditionally taken place every year in honour of local Muslim saints and are typically sponsored by one or more of the city’s guilds.
- Visit the Fes tanneries on this multi stop tour of the medina
- There’s a sumptuous collection of local cobalt blue ceramics, a signature of the city for more than a millennium, and astrolabes, a technology adapted by Arab scholars in the 10th century to set prayer times.
- It became a state university in 1963, and remains an important institution of learning today.
The city’s water supply, sewage, and electricity networks are managed by the Régie de distribution d’eau et d’électricité de Fès (lit. transl. Water and Electricity Distribution Authority of Fez). The main intercity bus terminal (or gare routière) is located just north of Bab Mahrouk, on the outskirts of the old medina, although CTM also operates a terminal off Boulevard Mohammed V in the Ville Nouvelle. The city’s main train station, operated by ONCF, is located a short distance from the downtown area of the Ville Nouvelle and is connected to the rail lines running east to Oujda and west to Tangier and Casablanca.
Between Fes el-Jdid and Fes el-Bali is the oldest park in the city, landscaped in the 18th century on the orders of Sultan Moulay Abdallah. In the same vein as other Marinid religious schools in Fez, the Al-Attarine Madrasa has sophisticated decoration on its rectangular courtyard. Some of the best places to dine in Fez are just inside the gateway, affording a front row view of the day-to-day in a Medieval city. What may take you by surprise is how young this monument is compared to the religious schools and shrines in Fez. This is also the only religious school in Fez to have its own minaret, also a work of art and hailed as the finest in the city.
Rachid still grills smoky kefta to pack into khobz (bread) fresh from the oven, and on the small square by Mosquée El Qaffazine, locals tuck into some of the city’s best lobia (white beans stewed with turmeric) and addis (lentils stewed with tomatoes, paprika and cumin). The day begins with a market tour in Rcif, sampling local specialties before returning to a tranquil private house to cook. Set in a 19th-century Andalusian-style palace, the Dar Batha Museum has reopened after major renovation, offering a thoughtful journey through Fez’s history from its medieval foundations to modern times. Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University is a public university founded in 1975 and is the largest in the city by attendance, counting over 86,000 students in 2020.
- The tanning industry, for example, still embodied by tanneries of Fes el-Bali today, was a major source of exports and economic sustenance since the city’s early history.
- The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, the only Catholic church in Fez, was established in 1919 or 1920, during the French colonial period.
- It is one of the largest cities in Morocco, with a population of 1.256 million, according to the 2024 census.
- The Attarine, near the Karaouiyine Mosque, dazzles with intricate zellige, stucco and Kufic calligraphy, while the Cherratine, built later, is austere and contemplative, its narrow cells once housing theology students.
- Below, in a centuries-old courtyard, visitors work on small looms under the patient guidance of an artisan.
- The Kairaouine Mosque is known to be the world’s oldest university and is the second-largest mosque in Morocco.
Today it is part of the Archdiocese of Rabat, and it was most recently restored in 2005. The Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, the only Catholic church in Fez, was established in 1919 or 1920, during the French colonial period. Elsewhere, the Jewish quarter (Mellah) is the site of the 17th-century Al-Fassiyin Synagogue and Ibn Danan Synagogue, as well multiple other lesser-known synagogues, though none of them are functioning today. The very oldest mosques of the city, dating back to its first years, were the Mosque of the Sharifs (or Shurafa Mosque) and the Mosque of the Sheikhs (or al-Anouar Mosque); however, they no longer exist in their original form.
The park was opened in June 2014 and is credited with significantly improving the recreational infrastructure of Fez. The park is dedicated to the relations of Fez and Latin America; its inauguration ceremony was attended by a delegation of ambassadors from Venezuela, Paraguay, and Panama. Latin American Park is a park opened in the summer of 2015 that sits in the middle of Fez.
Adjacent to the gardens is the grand mosque Fes el-Jdid, with the most beautifully embellished minaret! Take a glimpse at the dazzling exterior of the royal palace. Sit here at the end of a day of sightseeing and enjoy the sun setting behind this wonderful city. Grab a cheap, fresh juice every morning for the perfect start to a day of exploring. It is one of the most important religious buildings in Fes, and as such, only Muslims are allowed inside.
We were on a grand tour of Morocco and always looked for a secure parking spot. We felt safe walking the spines and main cross-passages by day and early evening. Both give that “Fez is endless” panorama; only one with coffee vans and parking helpers waving vigorously for coins.
Yes, if “good” means local, cheap, and satisfying. As we visited in the summer, the heat was unbearable on some days. Shoulders and knees covered made entering places easier, and interactions with locals more pleasant. Online reviews were somewhat vague, but we found a great, guarded lot near Al Oud café for 40 MAD per 24 hours—slept fine, car parked fine.
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