Fes - an exciting day in a lively city

Fes was the capital city of Morocco  in the 13th - 14th centuries and the main monuments of the city date from that time.

The Royal Palace of Fes  has the most beautiful facade with bronze doors, cedar wood carving,  intricate mosaics and calligraphy tile work. All the designs are traditional and the craftsmanship is stunning.

The panoramic view from Borj Sud gives a true history lesson on Fes. The three periods of  development can be seen, as well as many important structures.

The next stop was Art Naji Fez where we had a fascinating tour of their pottery from clay to gift shop! The clay is particular to Fes and unlike terracotta is not red. The white clay is first soaked in water for two weeks to break it down and remove impurities.

Once it is prepared for working the craftsmen create the tagines, plates and other items and they are placed in a very hot kiln.

Next step is for the artists to paint the designs, then they go back in the kilns. This collection was just being taken out of the kiln.

A demonstration of tagine making amazed us with what appeared to be the simplicity of the task ( but obviously wouldn't be ) and that they make a lot of lids then a lot of bases ... and they fit together. 

Hand painting the designs.

Before and after going in the kiln. The colour changes from the heat.

The young men and women do apprenticeships, beginning whilst still at school, and when completed over five years become master craftsmen. This man is soldering a metal decoration to a large urn.

We then went to the mosaics section where men were creating small and intricate mosaic pieces. Other men were gluing the pieces, interestingly, they create these upside down.

Some of the finished mosaics, fountains, table tops and wall decorations.

And then it was into the show room. Oh what beautiful things they had for sale. We had all been talking about buying a tagine because we have seen them in use daily, and eaten the food cooked in them. I just could not resist.

Some of us look forward to a box arriving in Benalla in about six weeks!

The El Bali Medina in Fes has been UNESCO World Heritage listed since 1981. It was founded in the 9th century, was at its peak in 13th-14th century and is still a vibrant and colourful centre of life in Fes. It is considered one of the most extensive and best conserved historic towns in the Arab-Muslim world.

So many images, so little space, but here are a few.  We spent hours walking in the narrow lanes amongst huge crowds of locals, we had a local man named Mohammed assisting to keep us all together and not get lost in the maze of laneways. Taking photos wasn't always possible.

The entrance gate to the Medina is blue for welcome, on the other side, the exit is green. Said in colour, the green wishes you well as you leave the Medina.

Very patient cats.

The Karaouine mosque  and university was founded in 857 - 859 by Fatima al-Fihri and it became a leading spiritual and educational centre for Islamic studies. Beautiful craftsmanship.

The stalls are so enticing with their displays and colours, fresh dates, nougat, leather goods and carpets.

The leather tanning and dyeing vats are one of the places not to be missed in Fes, but be prepared for the very bad smell. The hides are soaked in vats of cow urine, pigeon poo and salt for several days to break down the fat and fur. It is then trampled by foot to remove the remaining  unwanted materials. This also softens the leather before it is hung from the roof tops to dry. 

Once ready the hides are dyed in other vats using natural dyes such as saffron, indigo, poppy flowers, henna and mint.

We were taken up to a rooftop to see the vats, and we were handed some mint to keep under our noses.

We were actually above a leather shop where they sold beautiful jackets, shoes and bags.

Another mosque and university .

We came to a courtyard where several craftsmen were making things in the ancient ways. This man was making copper bowls by beating the copper with a wooden mallet. He was also making a huge din.

The Funduq was a caravanserai for cameleers and has now been restored and several artisans have workshops there. This display is the work of the bucket carpenter.

This was an interesting stall. Men were dyeing wool in buckets and troughs but some of it was silk from the agave plant.

The Medina was exciting, interesting, crowded and a bit challenging. Many of its kilometres of lanes go uphill (or down), you share the space with donkeys carrying loads of goods and men pushing carts.  We spent more than two hours there and walked five kilometres. It was a special experience.

It was a slightly warmer day today, and there were no new COVID cases.