Medina of Fez

What UNESCO says

UNESCO describes the property in these words: “Founded in the 9th century, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. The urban fabric and the principal monuments in the medina – madrasas, fondouks, palaces, residences, mosques and fountains - date from this period. Although the political capital of Morocco was transferred to Rabat in 1912, Fez has retained its status as the country's cultural and spiritual centre.”[1]

Inscribed

1981[1]

Category

Cultural[1]

Criteria

ii, v[1]

Area

280 hectares[1]

Background

Fes el Bali is the oldest part of Fez. Together with Fes Jdid it forms the medina, valued, Wikipedia says, for keeping its pre-modern urban layout and many historic monuments.[2] It was founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD, as two separate towns on either side of the Fez River that merged under the Almoravids in the 11th and 12th centuries.[2] The Marinids built Fes Jdid next to it in the 13th century as a new administrative capital. Fes el Bali keeps its market streets, narrow alleys and large parts of its walls, with the al-Qarawiyyin University and mosque at its heart.[2]

A seat of learning, as reported in 2016

Al Jazeera called al-Qarawiyyin, in Fez, the oldest university in the world, founded in AD 859, and described it as a prestigious centre of science and technology.[3]

Its library keeps rare manuscripts by medieval scholars. The library's curator, Abdelfattah Bougchouf, said people come from all over the world just to check facts on a page of one manuscript.[3]

To deal with decay and humidity, the restoration installed gutter systems, solar panels and air-conditioning.[3]