Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Medersas
More than schools of rote religious instruction, Moroccan
medersas
have been vibrant
centres of learning for law, philosophy and astronomy since the Merenid dynasty. For
enough splendour to lift the soul and distract all but the most devoted students, visit the
zel-
lij
-bedecked 14th-century Medersa el-Attarine in Fez and its rival for top students, the in-
tricately carved and stuccoed Ali ben Youssef Medersa in Marrakesh. Now open as mu-
seums, these
medersas
give some idea of the austere lives students led in sublime surround-
ings, with long hours of study, several roommates, dinner on a hotplate, sleeping mats for
comfort and one bathroom for up to 900 students. While other functioning
medersas
are
closed to non-Muslims, Muslim visitors can stay overnight in some Moroccan
medersas,
though arrangements should be made in advance and a modest donation is customary.
In addition to ancient fortress walls, 3m- to 6m-high border barriers wrap the Mediterranean
towns of Ceuta and Melilla. Spain and Morocco dispute their sovereignty, and local architecture
does nothing to resolve the conlict: the Spanish point out Andalucian elements, which Moroc-
cans will certainly remind you developed under Almohad rule.
