Fez

This Month in Fez:

Shopping: Can you play an oud, the traditional guitar-like instrument of Morocco? Try it out, along with drums, lutes and castanets at this tiny music shop (Mohamed Semlali, 142 Tala'a Kebira, Fez Medina, tel: 0665 03 27 19).

Sightseeing:

Key areas: Escape the crowds and head to the Andalous quarter. There's a magnificent mosque and two medersas, and no tourists in sight.

Fez News & Gossip

Fez's Ancient Medina

Their hooves stumbling over the flagstones, the clove-brown pack mules lurch downhill in procession into the ancient labyrinth. Laden with tanned sheepskins and sacks of cement, with soap powder and TV sets in crates, the mules ply a route trodden by animals and men for 1,000 years and more.

The Fez medina is a vast sprawling honeycomb of interwoven lanes, many of them no wider than a barrel's length, that is the spiritual heart of Morocco. They form a kaleidoscope of life that's changed little in centuries. Wander the streets and you're cast back in time as your senses are overpowered by the pungent scent of lamb roasting on spits, the muffled sound of hammers striking great sheets of burnished brass, and the sight of camel heads hanging outside butchers' stalls.

In recent years, it's Marrakech that has attracted the bulk of Morocco's tourists, but it's Fez that stands as a beacon for the genuine article - the only medieval Arab city on Earth left almost completely intact. Moroccans regard Fez as nothing short of a sacred treasure trove. In whispers, they describe the dark authenticity that doesn't exist anywhere else. It's true that some visitors find the medina's labyrinth bewitching, even unsettling, but all who reach out and grasp it are mesmerized by what they find.

Founded in 789 by King Idriss I on the river from which it takes its name, Fez has been a centre of culture and learning since the days of Harun ar-Rachid, the caliph immortalised in the Thousand and One Nights. Once part of a network of interconnected cities spread throughout the Islamic world, Fez was linked by pilgrimage routes to Córdoba, Baghdad, Cairo and Samarkand. It was a city at the forefront of knowledge and home to the greatest thinkers of its day, a place where breakthroughs were made in science and technology, in literature and the arts.

But time is a great leveller. For centuries Fez lay asleep - its palaces, fondouks (hostels), madrasas (schools) and mosaic fountains, each one a jewel of craftsmanship, lay neglected. Although proud of their city, the rich gradually moved away to the new town, or to Casablanca - the kingdom's economic hub - leaving the ancient medina to languish. Only now is the city being restored, and nowhere is the change taking place faster than on Talaa Kebir. The city's main thoroughfare, bustling with people and animals, feet and hooves jostling for space, the street almost defies description. Angled steeply downhill, (its name translates as "great climb"), it snakes down all the way to the ancient Karaouiyine Mosque.

Beginning at the fabulous arched blue gate of Bab Boujloud, Talaa Kebir runs deep into the rabbit warren of alleyways and lanes that make up the medina, one of the largest car-free city areas in the world. To stroll down this street is to strip away the layers of humanity towards its medieval core. Every inch of the way, it is packed with action: there are stalls heaped with melons, pomegranates and prickly pears. Fishmongers sell the day's catch, their battered old carts serenaded by cats. Knife sharpeners grind away at rusty blades, and all around are barbers and blind men, merchants, musicians and mendicants. Stalls are piled high with ordinary wares on either side of the street - fl our sieves, trainers and underpants, bunches of fresh mint furled up in newspaper, loofahs and Manchester United football strips.

While there's an abundance of tourist kitsch, most of the stuff for sale is aimed at ordinary Moroccans - in a way, that's the magic of the place. And, as if the daily bustle weren't enough, weaving through the crowds like shuttles on a loom are the pack mules. Almost everything on sale is heaved into the medina on their trusty backs.

But centuries of slumber have taken a heavy toll on Talaa Kebir. The wooden shopfronts are rotting, their foundations battered by searing summer heat and austere winter cold. Most of the merchants can't afford to make repairs - they struggle to make a living as it is. Fortunately, though, UNESCO has added the ancient medina to its roll call of World Heritage sites. While it's not actually paying for repairs (they were funded by the Moroccan government under the auspices of the King), UNESCO made a master plan for the old city's revival. The first job was to erect wooden scaffolding around more than 1,000 buildings that were judged to be in danger of collapsing.

One of the most prominent success stories - not to mention one of the greatest architectural masterpieces in Fez - is the Bou Inania Madrasa, the celebrated religious school. Found on Talaa Kebir, it's recently been restored and offers a window into a medieval way of life that has vanished from the Arab world. Get there early, stand in the central courtyard, and you can't help but travel back in time.

Another renovated marvel a stone's throw from the central thoroughfare is the Fondouk el-Nejjarine, a fabulous galleried caravanserai (traditional hotel). Nearby it is the Attarine Madrasa, yet another newly restored tour de force of culture, built just over seven centuries ago. Spend a little time traipsing through the medina and you come to realise that it's all about detail. Wherever you look, it's there: a pattern sculpted into the plaster frieze above a doorway, or a tarnished appliqué lamp that's a work of art in its own right.

According to some of the foreigners obsessed by Fez, it's the attention to detail that makes all the difference. An American scholar who's lived in the medina for more than a decade, David Amster believes in "guerilla restoration" on a micro scale. Whenever he's raised a little money through his tiny 18th-century guesthouse, Dar Bennis (22 Derb Bechara, Talaa Sghira, tel: +212 (0)661 564 364, houseinfez.com) Amster hires a team of master craftsmen. Often working at night when the streets are empty, they restore the ancient zellij mosaic fountains, and repair centuries-old walls with medluk, a traditional lime rendering.

"The work isn't fast," says Amster over a glass of tar-like morning café noir, "but what's important is getting it right." He fumbles in his coat pocket and pulls out a crumpled twist of iron. "Look at this nail," he says dreamily. "It was handmade 300 years ago by someone who cared about detail. If he cared so much about a single insignificant nail like this, imagine how much he cared about an entire building!"

Half way down Talaa Kebir, opposite the Bou Inania Madrasa, is a small alley, beneath what's left of the medieval water clock. As the street telescopes into nothingness, take a left again. You emerge into a courtyard, once a home and now the celebrated Café Clock (7 Derb El Magana, tel: +212 (0)535 637 855, cafeclock.com). The Clock, as it's known by all, is set over innumerable levels, and is one of the medina's most lively oases - popular with locals and foreigners alike. Serving up a mélange of Moroccan and continental dishes, it's the brainchild of Englishman and former mâitre d', Mike Richardson (he used to run London's The Ivy restaurant). Decorating a camel burger with a little garnish as it leaves the kitchen, Richardson flutters a hand out towards the labyrinth through which Talaa Kebir wends a path. "It takes time to understand Fez," he says. "And in some ways you're more baffled the longer you stay here. I can't claim to be an expert, but the city has seeped into my blood. Now I've lived here, I don't know if I could ever put roots down anywhere else. Look around you - Fez is a fragment of paradise!"

Buildings here are arranged inwards around central courtyards, many cooled by fragrant orange trees, so traditional Moroccan architecture tends to be hidden from the outsider. Roam the lanes of the medina and you can find yourself desperate to glimpse the jewels that lie behind firmly bolted doors. A tip for anyone eager to peek inside - go in search of your very own home in Fez. The arched cedar portals are pulled open from within, and you find yourself ushered inside. It's the best way to conjure the doors to open.

For the last five years, Fred Sola has been finding homes for foreigners and assisting them in renovations. A Frenchman born in Casablanca, he's the owner of the palatial 17th-century Riad Laaroussa, which now serves as a boutique hotel, hammam and spa (3 Derb Bechara, tel: +212 674 187 639, riad-laaroussa.com). "House hunting in Fez is like nowhere else," he says, his eyes ablaze with delight. "This is the only city I know where you can find a palace for the price of a terraced house anywhere else... "

Pausing in mid-conversation, Sola stares out at the street. He squints, then smiles as a bridal party pushes through. With much whooping and trumpeting, the bride is borne forwards waist-height on a dais. The Frenchman combs a hand back through his hair. "Believe me," he says gently, "life just doesn't get any better than this."

Fez Trivia

• May: The old Jewish quarter is called Fez el-Jdid - "new Fez" - even though it was built over 700 years ago. Well, it IS new in comparison with the medina, which is more than 1,200 years old.

• April: A Moroccan aphrodisiac contains more than 20 ingredients including ginseng and anise mixed with honey. Worth a try?

• March: The most sacred spot in Morocco, the shrine of Fez's founder Moulay Idriss in the centre of the Medina, is undergoing a full-scale restoration that will take five years to complete.

• Print page
• Email page
• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Google
• Reddit
• Technorati
• Twitter
• Yahoo!