Daily Life in Fez
Medina Streets
The daily life of Fez has a mixture of various elements and customs in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, known as old medina of Fez. Its alleyways can seem to lead one in concentric circles or straight to a dead end that one finds hard to navigate but only locals. Some of the streets are so low that one had to bend down very low to pass and other are just very narrow. It would only allow one person at the time.
Souk
Since its creation in 858 Idriss, a descendant of the prophet Mohammed who fled Bagdad. This city has attracted a wide array of populations, Berbers, Arabs, Jews from Spain, French under the protectorate, Moroccan rural migrants, tourists and African students. Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. Medina has its’ hidden secrets containing madrasas, fondouks, palaces, residences, mosques and fountains.
Life at it's Own Pace
The people of the medina are as integral a part of this place as the alleyways they navigate in, the schools they study in, the monuments they worship in or the workshops they work in. Like all communities it has its own codes and customs and functions in a way that has essentially remained unchanged for centuries but it is also a community that is in constant evolution.
All those populations and the successive dynasties have had, and still have, an influenceon the city, on its craft industry, religion, arts, architecture and social life. All this made Fez the cultural and spiritual capital of Morocco for a long time. This reputation, and image, of a holy city city of Moulay Idriss. The country has also mixed it’s art with local berber and Arabs and later with the Anadalusican Muslims who came from Spain and Portugal.
In a nutshell, if Morocco is melting pot of cultures, art and food then Fez is at the heart of it. Nothing can be taken away from this great city which had been a learning centre for many centuries. Even today, it invites people with open mind to come and absorb it’s energy.
