Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
IMPERIAL CITIES
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Fez
POP 1,044,000
Some 10 years ago, Fez boomed as a tourist destination. Money poured into the city, with
foreigners buying up riads in the medina and new parks and fountains being established in
the ville nouvelle. If you believed the travel and style pages of the Western media, Fez had
become the new Marrakesh. Then the Arab Spring and similar events in other Muslim
countries took their toll on tourism. Now, however, it seems that investment is on its way
back, particularly apparent in the number of new hotels being built and old ones renovated
in Fez.
Fassis, though, know that their city is beyond the vagaries of tourism. This is an old and
supremely self-confident city that has nothing to prove to anyone. Dynasties and booms
have all come and gone in the city's 1200-year existence, and Fez will be around long after
the next fashion has burned itself out.
The city's allegiance, or at least submission, has always been essential to whoever held
Morocco's throne. Morocco's independence movement was born here, and when there are
strikes or protests, they are often at their most vociferous in Fez.
For visitors, the medina of Fès el-Bali (Old Fez) is the city's great drawcard. It's an as-
sault on the senses, a warren of narrow lanes and covered bazaars filled to bursting with
aromatic food stands, craft workshops, mosques and an endless parade of people. Old and
new constantly collide - the man driving the donkeys and mules that remain the main form
of transport is likely to be chatting on his mobile phone, while the ancient skyline is punc-
tuated equally with satellite dishes and minarets.
Years of neglect have taken their toll on the medina, however. The authorities have taken
note; the city walls have been repaired and much is being done to conserve buildings. Scaf-
folding is everywhere. Yet for all the romance of medina life to visitors, many residents
have been happy to sell up to foreigners and swap their sometimes medieval living condi-
tions for a modern apartment in the ville nouvelle.
The trick is to dive straight in. It's initially overwhelming, but once you adjust to the
pace of the city, Fez reveals its charms in the most unexpected ways. Seemingly blind al-
