RAKEN Travel  >  Morocco  > The Imperial Cities  > Fez

The Imperial Cities  :   Fez   Marrakesh   Rabat   Meknes

Fez (or Fes) was Morocco's capital under various reigns. Founded by the Idrissides in the 8th century, Fez was the crossroad of commercial exchange with the Orient under the Merinide dynasty and the birthplace of Sultan Mohamed V, the grandfather of the present king. Widely recognised as the spiritual, religious and cultural capital of Morocco, Fez witnesses the creative and imaginative spirits of Arab and Hispanic civilisations.

We are delighted by the originality of its Medina, charmed by the breathtaking architecture of its Medersas (coranic schools), elated by its Souks where captivating sounds, scents and colours abound, stunned by the generosity and warm welcome of its inhabitants and marvelled at the sight of its palace-museums.

Dar Batha museum, a palace of Hispano-Moorish architecture was built under the reigns of Moulay Hassan the First and Moulay Abdelaziz at the end of the 19th century; it was converted into a museum in 1915.

With its splendid architecture and rich collections of wood carvings, Zellige ceramics, wrought iron, sculptured plaster, carpets, jewels and astrolabes, Dar Batha keeps track of traditional arts and crafts of Fez and the skilled hands of its artisans. A whole room is dedicated to the Fez blue poteries, a speciality of the city; the very best pieces are exposed there.

The Borj North museum, created in 1963, a bastion erected in 1582 on the orders of the Saadi sultan Ahmed El Mansouri, traces the history of arms from prehistory to the 20th century (arrow heads, hatchets, daggers, sabres and swords, as well as various firearms, pistols and canons).

The collections were greatly enriched by royal donations and now include exceptional items. 

The most exquisite masterpieces are of Moroccan origins : daggers adorned with precious gemstones, traditional rifles and a 5 metres long canon (weighting 12 tons) which was used during the battle of the Three Kings. 

Fez is also the religious capital of Morocco, a title it owes to its majestic mosque El Qarawiyyin, rivalling El Azhar of Egypt, a large and worldwide renowned Islamic institution. It was founded in the 9th century at the heart of the sacred precinct, with monumental doors and architecturally constitutes one of the principal examples of Hispano-Moorish art.   

Reputed for its relics and traditions, Fez is also the inheritor of Millenium old artisan skills transmitted through generations of hand crafters, from the first inhabitants from Kairouan and Andalusia, to the present guilds of gifted and agile craftsmen.

Nowadays, you can admire these fairy hands as they handle clay and earth to turn it into the famous Zellige ceramics and potteries, or as they use ancestral techniques to die leather, wool or other textiles. There is no doubt, Fez El-Bali is the capital of Moroccan handicrafts.