Fes Area
The Moroccan city of Fes is 500 Kilometres North East of Marrakech and 400 Kilometres South of Tangiers and 200 Kilometres East of Rabat, the capital. To the North are the Rif Mountains and to the East is the Sahara.
In 2011 the city had a population of approximately 1,000,000 and it is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco, the others being Marrakech, Meknes and Rabat . It was the capital of Morocco until 1912 when the French moved it to Rabat . Since independence in 1956 Rabat has continued as the capital.
Fes was founded in 780 by Idris the 1st and has the oldest and largest mosque in Africa, built in 810, named the Kairraouine Mosque. This area has developed into Fes-al-Bali . |
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It is the larger of the two Medinas with a current population of 156,000, and an estimated 11,000 retail businesses that make up the souks. In 1981 it was designated a world heritage site by Unesco. Since then, considerable sums have been spent restoring the old buildings, and cleaning the area. Much work has been carried out to make the whole town tourist friendly. It is now thought to be the largest car free area of any city in the world.
Many Muslims, expelled from Andalucia between 1492 and 1562, settled here and in Tetouan to the north, building many areas in the image of Granada and Cordoba . This created the area of Fes-Djedid where the royal palace was subsequently built, there is a small medina attached to this area.
The new city was developed in the early 20 th century by the French. It is the Ville Nouvelle. There are many good hotels such as the Crown Palace, Ibis (next to the railway station), Mounia, Sheraton, and the Volubilis. There are also many restaurants.
Travel: The airport is 25 minutes drive and there are around 6 trains per day from Tangiers which take 4/6 hours and 7 per day from Marrakech taking 7.5 hours.
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