Picturing Fes

Having already written a blog about my experiences in Fes, Morocco, the next logical step was to share a few of the photos I took of this amazing place.  While these photos will never do justice, they will at least give the reader an idea of life in this ancient city.  Below are my favorite photos with a brief explanation.  Enjoy!

On our second full day in Fes, we stopped for a mint tea mid morning.  The restaurant we stopped at was back a narrow alley with only a small sign out front.  While the interior of the restuarant was beautiful, the crown jewel was this view from the restuarant's terrace.  In the distance is the minaret of the Kairaouine Mosque and University.  The Mosque is the second largest in Africa, and the University calims to be the oldest in the world.  It was founded in 859 A.D.

The boys enjoying their mint tea.  Mint tea is the most popular drink in Morocco and is served nearly everywhere from street sellers to the finest restaurants.  The tea is made with a little bit of green tea, sugar, and a full sprig of fresh mint.  In many cases additional mint is added to the glass as a garnish.  It's sweet and delicious. 

The Bou Inania Medersa.  The Medersa, named after its founder Abou Inan Faris, was built between 1351 and 1356.  At its height, it functioned as a both a religious school and a mosque.  It is one of the few religious sites in Fes that is accessible to non-Muslims.

This is a typical street view in Fes taken early in the morning before the streets become crowded with vendors and stalls.  You can see why the entire old city is off limits to vehicles.  All transport within the Medina is done with horses, donkeys, and small carts.

Entrance to the Belghazi Museum that displays a variety of traditional Moroccan wares.  It is housed in a 17th century palace.  Notice the musicians in traditional dress to the right of the entrance.  They are more than happy to perform for you, for a tip.

Kelly and the boys in front of the Bab Bou Jeloud (The Blue Gate).  This gate is one of the main entrances to the Medina.

The Craftsmen of the Fes Medina

One of the best reasons to travel to Fes is to observe traditional artisans at work.  Perhaps no where in the word can you still see so many traditional craftsmen at work.  Even better, these wares are then for sale.  The work done by these men and women reminds us of a simpler time when everything was made this way.  What I enjoyed most was that these crafts are not put on or "demonstrated" the way we've become accustomed to seeing them done in western museums or craft shows.  This is the real deal.  If you see a man making buckets, it's because the people of the Medina need buckets to get water, not because they sell well in a gift shop.

This small stall is located of the Medina's main road, Talaa Kebira.  The entire workshop is the size of a small storage until.  The buckets are made using only hand tools, the artisans hands (and feet).

  

 

This photo shows another small workshop located off a main road in the Medina.  The artisan shown is making pillows using traditional embroidered fabric.

One of the more interesting crafts we saw in Fes was this form of hand stamping or engraving metal.  The patterns produced are beautifully intricate.  Some pieces take days to finish. 

The Pottery

In the hills above Fes, our guide took us to one of the many potteries.  The amazing workshops produce tiles, mosaics, and a variety of pottery pieces.  They are most famous for their Fes blue pottery.  To make Fes blue, a mineral found in the area is ground to produce the paint.  The pieces are then handpainted and fired.



In the pottery workshop, you are able to watch nearly all phases of production.  The man above is is the process of producing the lid for a tangine.

When the pottery is ready it is hand painted.  Notice that the paint isn't blue, it's purple.  During the firing process the paint turns to the bright blue that is typical of Fes.

Pictured are three men chipping tiles that will be used to create mosaics for tables.  Shown in front of them are some of the designs.   



 The Weavers

The Medina is home to many weavers who produce cloth, carpets, and scarves.  Weaving is done with a variety of different materials including wool and Moroccan silk.  Moroccan silk is made using the fibers from the Agave cactus.  The agave is best known as the source of Mexican tequila.  Because the Muslim faith prohibits alcohol, Moroccans use the fine fibers in the cactus to produce their version of silk.  These natural fibers are then died using a variety of natural dyes like indigo (blue), poppy (red), and saffron (yellow).

This man is using his loom to weave a typical Moroccan scarf. According to our guide, he has been working in this shop for 45 years.

Moroccan silk is on being used at this loom.  The silk is dyed with indigo to produce the beautiful color.

This photo shows Seffarine Square where traditional metal workers ply their trade.  They make large copper and metal pots used in cooking and for a variety of other chores.

This is one of my favorite photos of the entire trip.  It shows a group of men playing cards in one of the many carpet souks (markets) in the Medina.  This particular souk was in an old funduq.  Funduqs were the way stations for the caravans that once crossed Northern Africa.  Arab traders lodged in the rooms that overlooked a central courtyard where the camels and goods were kept.

This is a great example of one of the traditional spice shops you find in the Medina.  Spices are an incredibly important part of Moroccan cooking.  Hundreds of spices and dried herbs can be found in a shop like this.  Some of the most important locally are cinnamon, pepper, chilis, cumin, and saffron.

The Tanneries

Probably the most famous site in the old Medina are the Chouwara Tanneries.  In addition to being the most popular destination, they are also the smelliest.  Traditional hide tanning is done in two steps.  The first involves scrapping and softening the hides with pigeon droppings.  The second step is where the leather is dyed.  Natural herbs and flowers are used to create the colors that are added to animal urine in the stone vats.   As you apporach the area of the city where the tanneries are located you can tell you are getting close by the smell.





This photo shows a view of the tanneries from one of the leather merchant's balconies.  These stores employ men who prowl the streets offering to take you to the tanneries.  Many of these stores are accessed by a set of steep unmarked stairs that take you to the second level and balcony.  Most storeowners are generous enough to offer a mint spring that hepls to ward off the smell.  The men who "show" you the tanneries usually recieve tips or kickbacks from the shopowners for bringing in customers.

 

 

Another view of the tanneries from the leather shop balcony.  Notice the bright yellow leather dryng on the nearby roofs.  The yellow is dyed with saffron and is considered the most valuable.  Among the types of leather available are hides from sheep, goats, camels, and cows.



This final photo shows the boys with Emad.  Emad works at the Riad Al Atik where we stayed.  Like many of the Moroccan's we met he was genuine and friendly.  In the backrgound are the two French owners of the Riad.  They too were incredibly helpful and friendly.  They arranged our guide, transportation, and even took us to a nearby carpet shop. 

Four Days in Morocco

It’s hard to know where to begin with Fes.  It is at once the most interesting, friendly, dirty, foreign, and incredible city I’ve ever visited.  As a citizen of a western nation, I can’t imagine ever becoming fully comfortable there.  It’s not that it’s not a nice place.  It’s simply that Fes is an entirely different world. 

Perhaps nowhere in the world can you travel so few miles yet so many years.  Our trip began with a mid morning flight out of Madrid.  The flight to Tangier was only an hour.  In fact, only 8.1 miles (13km) separates Southern Spain and Morocco.  After landing in Tangier, we had lunch on the beach and took a train five hours to Fes. 

Before I get to Fes though, a word about Tangier.  To me, Tangier is Morocco light.  There is a beach and a Medina (old walled city), but neither are worth a visit unless you are traveling on to another city.  The beach is picturesque, but dirty, and the Medina is too commercial.  Sure the old city is still there, but you don’t get the impression that the goods being sold are made there.  You don’t see the workshops and the craftsmen.  Even the riads (guest houses) and restaurants have a put on feel.  It’s as if they are there so that visitors can experience Morocco in a way that they expect to experience Morocco, as opposed to the way Morocco really is.  

Leaving Tangier, our train took us 200 hundred miles (321 kilometers) over five hours to reach Fes.  Once at the train station, we took a cab to the wall of the Medina where we met a representative of our riad.  This was our first indication of the labyrinth of roads that wind through the Medina, most of which are so narrow that cars are not allowed within the city’s walls.   The old Medina is one of the largest pedestrian only zones in the world.  Because of this, first time visitors to the city must quickly get used to the calls of “balek” and “andak”.  To loosely translate, these both seem to mean get out of the way in Moroccan Arabic.  These calls are usually followed by either a man with a cart full of goods or a donkey loaded with anything from chickens to propane gas canisters.

After a five minute walk, we reached our riad.  It was located off of the main street of Talaa Kebira and down a narrow alleyway.  There is no way we would’ve found it on our own.  The Riad Al Atik is run by two delightful French women.  There are a total of six available guest rooms each with traditional Moroccan décor.  The colors are vibrant and the tiles amazing.  In addition to the accommodations, the owners also arranged our transport, booked our guide, and even took us to a rug shop to help us pick out a carpet.  They also provide an amazing breakfast with traditional Moroccan breads, cakes, jam, eggs, honey, olives, and fresh cheese.

The central courtyard of the Riad Al Atik.

           After breakfast we met our guide, Habib.  Having a guide at least one day in Fes is an absolute necessity.  As our guide told us, there are over 9000 streets and alleyways in the Fes Medina.  Over the course of the day, our guide took us to many of Fes’ most famous sites including the Bab Bou Jeloud Gate (blue gate), Bou Inania Medersa (Koranic school and mosque), Kairaoine Mosque (second largest mosque in Africa), Moulay Idriss Zawiya (tomb of Fes’ founder), and the Kairaoine Tanneries.  We also visited several workshops where we saw artisans weaving, making and painting pottery, tanning leather, engraving metal and woodworking.  This tour also included a trip to the Merenid tombs that rest above the city.  From here there were amazing views of the city.  In all we spent nearly eight hours with our guide. 

View of the Old Medina taken from the Merenid Tombs.

This is really the only way to see the city.  Before we left Spain, I spent quite a bit of time looking through tour books and researching online.  I doubt that I would’ve been able to find most of what I read about.  In Fes, every corner hides a workshop, a store, or a restaurant.  So many times we would find ourselves in a narrow staircase or alleyway that would lead to an unbelievable site.  Whether it’s a courtyard, a souk (market), or a balcony, we learned to expect the unexpected.  Because of this, a guide is essential.

Our guide Habib with Kelly and the boys.  He is explaining the importance of the many fountains spread throughout Fes.

In addition to the advantages in sightseeing, the guide is also helpful in getting a better price on goods.  This is the one aspect that is most frustrating about Fes.  There are no marked prices on anything.  All purchases have to be negotiated.  This is very difficult for an outsider.  The merchants in Fes are experts at the art of negotiation.  Not once did I leave a shop without feeling that I got fleeced.  The key is to decide what you are willing to pay for something and stick to it.  The one nice thing is that even if you can’t agree on a price, the friendliness of the people remains.  It’s an intense process, but for us it always ended in a handshake, a smile, and usually a gift for the boys.

This brings me to another point.  The people we met in Fez were as friendly as any place that I’ve ever visited.  They understand the value of tourism to their country and act accordingly.  Whether it was the guide or the shopkeepers, they were always happy to answer our questions and to show us their shops and goods.  They take pride in what they do, and that constantly comes through in their attitude and enthusiasm.  

View of the Chouwara Tanneries

Our second day in Fes we decided to spend on our own.  We visited a carpet shop to purchase a small rug, and an embroidery workshop.  Embroidery is one of the few trades, outside of cooking, that is done almost exclusively by women.  It is piece work that is taken on by married women in order to earn extra money.  The work is painstakingly slow.  One tablecloth can take days to weeks to complete.  The stitching is all done by hand so that the pattern on both sides is identical.  According to the shop owner we spoke to, women can work only an hour or two a day on embroidery work due to the strain it puts on the eyes.  The result though is beautiful.

Enjoying a mint tea and views of the Kairaouine Mosque.

We finished our second day by having dinner in a family home.  I hope to write more about this later, so I won’t say much now other than the hospitality was impeccable and the food delicious.

On our third morning in Fes we had breakfast and took a final walk before heading to the train station.  Although I don’t think I could ever feel completely comfortably there, I was able to relax a little and take everything in.  Whether it was the open market with live chickens, cow hearts, and goat heads, or the passing donkey carrying everything from herbs, vegetables, or baked goods, Fes is alive in a way that Western cities aren’t.  It was a place both hauntingly foreign and historically familiar.  It’s like looking into the past while living in the future.  It’s truly the most interesting place I’ve ever visited.

Bab Bou Jeloud