FES
Fes or Fez is the third largest city in Morocco —after Casablanca and Rabat— with a population of just over one million. It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region.
Fes, a former capital, is one of the country's four "imperial cities," the others being Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat. It comprises three distinct parts, Fes el Bali (the old, walled city), Fes-Jdid (new Fes, home of the Mellah) and the Ville Nouvelle (the French-created, newest section of Fes).
Fes el Bali is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its medina, the larger of the two medinas of Fes, is believed to be the world's largest contiguous car-free urban area. The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in 859 C.E., is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world.
History
Some of the ancient Jewish population of Fes, pictured in about 1900.The city was founded on a bank of the Fez River by Idris I in 789, founder of the Idrisid dynasty, the works being continued on the opposite bank by his son Idris II (808).
Arab emigration to Fes, including 800 Al-Andalusian families expelled after a rebellion which took place in Córdoba in 817-818, and other 2,000 families banned from Kairouan (modern Tunisia) after another rebellion that took place in 824, gave the city a definite Arab character. 'Adwat Al-Andalus and 'Adwat al-Qarawiyyin, the two main quarters of Fes, were called respectively after the two waves of Arab immigrants to the new city.[3] During Yahya ibn Muhammad's rule the Kairouyine mosque, one of the oldest and largest in Africa, was built, together with the associated University of Al-Karaouine was founded (859).
After Ali ibn Umar (Ali II) came to power, the Berber tribes of Madyuna, Gayatha and Miknasa, which were Sufrite Kharijites, formed a common front against the Idrisid and, after defeating Ali's armies, occupied Fes. They were driven out of the city by Yahya ibn Al-Qassim, who declared himself Ali's successor.
The city was populated by Muslims from elsewhere in North Africa, the Middle East, Moriscos (especially after the Spanish conquest of Granada in 1492), as well as many Jews, who had their own quarter, or Mellah, in the city. The two halves of Fes were united in 1069, after the destruction of the wall dividing them. Although losing its capital status to Marrakech and Tlemcen under the Almoravids, Fes became the scientific and religious center, where both Muslims and Christians from Europe came to study. In 1250 it regained its capitals status under the Marinid dynasty.
In the Early Modern Age, the Ottoman Empire neared to Fes after the conquest of Oujda in the 16th century. In 1554 the Wattasids Dynasty took Fes with the support of the Turks, and the city became a vassal of the Ottomans, who finally conquered it in 1579 under sulat Murad III. The Ottoman power in the North Africa concentrated itself more on the threats posed by Habsburg Spain and the Portuguese Kingdom. As a result, Fes was not under pressure by the Ottoman rulers. The conquest of Fes was the catalyst for the move of the capital city of the Saadi Dynasty to Marrakech City. At the beginning of the 17th century the town returned under Morocco with Ahmad al Mansur.
After the fall of the Saadi Dynasty (1649), Fes was a major trading post of the Barbary Coast of North Africa. Until the 19th century it was the only source of Fez hats (also known as the tarboosh), before they began to be manufactured in France and Turkey; originally, the dye for the hats came from a berry that was grown outside the city, known as the Turkish "k?z?lc?k" or Greek "akenia" (Cornus mascula). Fes was also the end of a north-south gold trading route from Timbuktu. Fes was also a prime manufacturing location for leather goods such as the Adarga.
It became independent in 1790, under the leadership of Yazid (1790–1792), and later, of Abu´r-Rabi Sulayman, who fell however to Morocco in 1795. In 1819–1821 Fes took part in the rebellion led by Ibrahim ibn Yazid, as well as to the 1832 rebellion, led by Muhammad ibn Tayyib.
Fes was again the capital of Morocco until 1912, when most of Morocco came under French control and Rabat was chosen as the capital of the new colony, a status retained even when Morocco achieved independence in 1956. While many of the original inhabitants of Fes have since emigrated, the Jewish quarter has been emptied of its Jewish population (in 1465, there was large massacre of Jews by Arab riots), and the economy has stagnated. Despite the traditional character of most of the city, there is also a modern section, the Ville Nouvelle, or "New City", which is a bustling commercial center. The popularity of the city has increased since the King of Morocco took a computer engineer from Fes, Salma Bennani, as his wife.
Climate
Located along the Atlas Mountains, Fes has a seasonal climate, shifting from cool in winter to hot days in the summer months of July-September. The nights are always cool (or colder in winter), with daytime temperatures generally rising about +9~14 C° (+15~26 F°) every day. The winter highs typically reach only 16°C (60°F) in December-January.
Main sights
Fes is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination and many non-Moroccans are now restoring traditional houses (riads and dars) as second homes in the Fes medina. The most important monuments in the city are:
Bou Inania Madrasa
Al-Attarine Madrasa
University of Al-Karaouine
Zaouia Moulay Idriss II
Dar al-Magana
Aben Danan Synagogue
Transport
The city is served by Saïss Airport. It also has an ONCF train station which goes east to Oujda and west to Tanger and Casablanca.
