Morocco day 19. Fez | Perfect Planet

Submitted by maria on Wed, 25/09/2024 - 11:29

Today is our last day in Fez and we still have a lot of places to visit.

Chouwara

This afternoon we take a bus to Chefchaouen, known as the blue pearl of Morocco.

We have arranged to meet for breakfast at the riad at nine o'clock but no one shows up so we decide to go out for breakfast and start our tour today. Most Moroccan cities wake up late, it is difficult to find anything open before 10am.

Souk

We have breakfast inside the Medina in a typical Moroccan café with mint tea and biscuits for 77dh 4pax.

Fez is one of Morocco's four imperial cities and one of the most authentic. Its walled Medina is immense and it is difficult to find your way around, although googlemaps helped us a lot, here are some indications that will serve as a reference to visit the main points of interest.

Souk

Inside the Medina, the souks are divided by guilds, the most curious of which are the dyers', Attarine's, with spices and natural products, and the henna market. Don't forget to haggle!

Seffarine square

We went to the Seffarine square, known as the square of the cauldrons, which is situated between the dyers‘ and tanners’ souks. In the square is the Seffarine Madrasa but we could not go inside. You will recognise the square by the metal bumps.

Continuing north you can visit the Karaouyine University and Mosque. Non-Muslims are not allowed in but the views of the central courtyard from the gate are brutal.

Karaouyine Mosque

Directly opposite is the Al Attarine Madrasa, which has a beautiful inner courtyard and a huge cedar dome. You can go up to the upper floors and see the rooms. Admission 20dh/pax.

Al Attarine Madrasa

Leaving the Attarine Madrasa to the west before reaching the henna souk you will find the Mausoleum of Mulay Idris II, son of Idris I who reigned in the 11th century. Access is restricted to Muslims only but you can peek in at the entrance.

Mulay Idris II Mausoleum

From the henna souk turn left to reach the cabinetmakers' souk and Nejarinne Square, where the old inn has been converted into a woodcarving museum. There is a beautiful fountain in the square. It is said that Fez was the first city in the world to build fountains to supply water to the city.

The tanneries are another must-see on your visit to Fez. We visited two, although there are several, the Sidi Moussa tannery and the Chouwara tannery.

Chouwara

Tanneries are workshops where leather is tanned and worked to make accessories, clothing or decorative objects. Some of them still work according to ancestral methods similar to those used in the Middle Ages. The leather is first removed and bathed in ammonia from pigeon droppings (white vats) to remove impurities, then washed in huge wooden washing machines and left to dry. Then the dyeing process begins, using vegetable products such as henna for pink, turmeric for yellow or lapis lazuli for blue. They are then dried in the sun and worked inside the workshops.

Chouwara

Entire families work in the tanneries, participating in all the processes of production and sale of the skins; it is very hard work, not only because of the smell, but also because they have to crawl into the vats up to their groins to work the skins properly.

In Fez, the biggest one is the Chouwara, and you can even go down to the dyeing area. In exchange for a tip, the tannery guard will accompany you.

Chouwara

Sidi Moussa's is smaller but the tent at number lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll is spectacular. He explained to us the differences between the different types of leather, camel leather being the best in terms of waterproofing (also the most expensive) as opposed to cow leather which is not waterproof. They also work with goat and sheep.

Normally the visit is free if you buy an item but if you don't you have to leave a tip. In Sidi we gave 50dh for the four and in Chouwara 20dh to see it from the terrace and another 20dh to go down.

The smell is very strong (we thought it would be worse) and so they give you a sprig of mint.

Chouwara

Next to the Chouwara tannery there are several shops selling argan products. They are usually more expensive than the street stalls where argan, almonds or other products are pressed into oil and packaged on the spot.

Sidi Moussa

Carpet shops are also a must all over Morocco, and you'll find plenty of places to buy them in the Medina of Fez.

Argan

The guy at the accommodation contacted us to apologise and invited us for lunch instead of breakfast, so we went back to the riad for lunch.

The food was delicious, Moroccan salad, eggs in tajine with tomato and vegetables, bread and olives.

Fez

We pick up our backpacks and take a taxi to the CTM bus station. We had to bargain hard as the station is on the outskirts.

The bus is the cheapest way to get around. There are three buses a day from Fez to Chefchaouen and you can buy tickets online here.

You can negotiate a grand taxi but for it to be economical you need to fill it with at least 7 people and if you're carrying large suitcases it gets complicated. To give you an idea, we were offered a car for just the four of us for 120€ and with ten people it was down to 70€. The bus cost 14€/pax. It takes between 4.30 and 5 hours, the private car about four hours.

Fez

We arrived in Chefchaouen at night. The bus station is outside the Medina. We took a taxi to El Majzen square where the Parador hotel is located for 10dh/pax.

We stay with friends and Mohammed comes to pick us up to show us how to get there.

Fez

Chefchahuen or Chaouen is known as the blue pearl of Morocco because its streets are painted in different shades of blue. It is not known for sure why blue, some say that it repels mosquitoes and others that it represents the colour of the river and the sky. What is clear is that it has become one of the biggest tourist attractions in northern Morocco.

Many people visit the city for a few hours on organised tours from Fez or Tangier, but we decided to spend two days and discover Chefchaouen when it was empty of tourists.