Two weekends ago, our entire program went on our first trip together to the imperial cities of Meknès and Fez. Fez is the oldest city in Morocco, and was the first capital when the country as we know it today was first established in the 8th century. We took a bus to Meknès, which was the capital of Morocco in the 17th century under Moulay Ismail. First stop was the old Stables of Moulay Ismail, and then to the prison where we descended into a stark, dark basement holding room where holes in the ceiling let in light and also, in the old days, food lowered down from the ground above. From there we walked around the medina and into the Musée des Arts et Métiers Traditionels de Meknès, a traditional art museum converted from one of the king’s riyads in the past. Some rooms were preserved as originally furnished—unbelievably ornate—while in other rooms where rugs, pottery, and woodwork in the traditional Meknèsi style the floors, walls, columns, and even ceilings were tiled (zellij) and embellished. After lunch of couscous and juice—any kind or combination of fresh pressed juice you can imagine—we continued on our way to Fez. At one point we stopped on a mountain road to look down into the white-washed city of Moulay Idriss, named after the 8th century king of Morocco and off-limits to non-Muslims. Inside the city is a mosque of the same name, which is a point of pilgrimage for Muslims. It was a spectacular view, nestled into the mountains and looking like a white oasis in the rugged landscape.
Outside one of the doors to the medina in Meknes.
A traditional riyad room maintained in the Musee.
Our next stop was Volubilis-- called Walili in Arabic, which is equally as fun to say-- an archaeological site of Roman ruins (and now a UNESCO World Heritage site). Structures like Roman baths were still intact, as were some of the elaborate tiling on the floors depicting various scenes and characters. From the top, you can see little towns tucked away into the mountains, and again the vast, dry openness of the landscape.
The center of Volubilis.
On a mountain overlooking the city of Moulay Idriss.
From Volubilis we continued on to Fez, checked into our hotel and proceeded to explore the medina, which is the largest and oldest medina in all of Morocco. We wandered through the labyrinth, passing stalls and stalls of fresh meat—I mean fresh as in skinned animals displayed everywhere— and then herbs, and then the jewelry/clothes/general artisan products sections. It was like a much, much larger version of the Rabat medina that I’m familiar with, “a medina’s a medina” as someone said. The most obvious distinction, aside from the sheer size and crowdedness of the thing, was the behavior of the people working there. The Fez medina is a major tourist attraction, and as a result walking through the medina for us means getting hassled and accosted and pushed to buy things and pay for services. If you stop walking, it’s all over. We soon realized that, and found refuge in a little ice cream parlor, named “Disney Channel”, of all things, tucked into one of the alleys.
The lobby inside our hotel in Fez.
The next day we went on an actual guided tour of the medina, with a professor from Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane. First stop was at Madrassa Bou Inania, built in the 14th century as a religious school and mosque. In addition to all the tiling that I pretty much expect to see everywhere by this point, even on ruins, the walls were all constructed of wood and stone elaborately carved in Arabic and Maghrebi script. We walked through the “dormitory” area, which consisted of very small stark rooms, meant to encourage a life without distraction for the importance of the studies. We left the madrassa and meandered through to the Nejarine Museum, dedicated to historical regional woodcrafts and located in the metalwork section of the enormous medina. After the tour, we found some more souk sandwiches, which are enough to fill you up for an entire day and cost approximately $2 American, and then started off on our own tour of the medina to find the famed tanneries.
Center of Madrassa Bou Inania.
Maghrebi script and zellij on the walls of the Madrassa.
The metalwork area in the Fez medina.
Outside the Nejarine Museum in the middle of the medina.
We were told that the tanneries were located far in the middle of the medina and that our best bet would be to pay someone to take us there, but we decided to try to find them ourselves. We walked back to the metalwork district (amazingly we remembered how to find our way through the twisting, cramped alleys), where we began to be accosted by young boys asking, “You want to see the tanneries? This way, this way!” each pointing in a different direction. We finally escaped from one boy who had been following us through the alleys, only to be taken to the tanneries by his friend—when we got there, we spotted the first boy hiding behind a wall watching us. He was with another boy, all about 12 years old, who earlier in the day had shouted insults and obscenities at us in Arabic (which we understood, thanks to our Moroccan friends). Eventually, we got to the roof of a leather goods store which looked down over the tanneries—huge stone baths filled with different substances for cleaning, treating, and coloring the freshly skinned leather. Our little guide explained what each substance was for; there was one area, the little boy explained to us, where the baths were filled with the technically-named “pigeon shit”, to thoroughly clean the leather. We were shown to a “pharmacy” of pungent herbs and spices afterwards, to replace the tannery odors. The owner of course tried to entice us to purchase something, of course, after giving us a lengthy explanation of each herb and their properties. That was the Fez medina—everyone trying to get money from tourists, by any means possible, and turning any would-be stroll into a blindered brisk walk. The shopkeepers get frustrated: we were walking out of the medina after seeing the tanneries and a man was offering us the menu to his restaurant, so we said “leh, shokran” (“no thank you”), as we always do. We passed him, and then heard “leh shokran, I HATE LEH SHOKRAN!” Oy vey. Sorry, mister, but I hate “You want to eat here? Good price, 70 dirhams…” C’est la vie.
Overlooking the dying baths in the tanneries.
The rest of Fez: MacDo (with elaborately carved ceilings) for dinner on a rainy night; one of the king’s many palaces (one in all of the major cities and regions of Morocco); and a synagogue in the area just outside of the palace where the Jewish population traditionally was located. One last tour through the medina for traditional Faissi soup at a hole in the wall soup stand (literally, a hole in the wall), 5 d’s for a bowl of hot buttery, garlic bean soup with a hunk of bread. Also a stop outside of the Karouine university and mosque, located inside the medina as well, which was founded in the mid-9th century, and is still operating today as an academic and religious education center. It was eye-opening to see the dynamics of this city, so old and yet modern in parts, the people so tough and jaded, making a day of exploring a run to preserve your sanity. As with every trip I’ve been on so far, it’s made me look at Rabat in a new light. I’m spending this weekend not travelling, and I’m realizing again how nice it is to be able to walk down familiar streets, seeing the same shopkeepers, going to the café where the owner knows us and will talk to us about where we’ve been in Morocco or how we find the Arabic language. Rabat is such a balanced city, small for a capital city in my opinion and kind of sleepy, especially when compared to bustling, high-rise Casa. But it’s a place where I can carry out my life, not the same as home in America of course, but in a way that makes sense here.
Fez at night: fountain and MacDo
Palace at Fez
Faissi soup in the medina
Looking into Karaouine.
pictures are REALLY beautiful!!!!
ReplyDeletepictures are REALLY beautiful!!!!
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