"Fès - Past and present" a Fes Travel Page by Bernhadette

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The Tanneries - A Popular Tourist Site

Fès has been one of the most important cities in Morocco's history and is now one of the cities most overrun by tourists. Since the French General Lyautey had declared the whole town a historical monument in the beginning of the 20th century, a kind of "historicization" has begun. Having been made a World Heritage site by the UNESCO in 1976, Fès in a large part seems to be regarded as a kind of living monument by the public and many tourists. Therefore the areas that were built in medieval times, Fès El Bali and Fès El Djedid, are the ones most visited.

But it is as least as interesting to visit the parts, that where set up in the 20th century (Ville Nouvelle), where most Fassi live. Here you can get to know the people. You will easily get into an animated conversation about the Fassi and everyday-life in Fès.
Many Moroccans attribute different traits of character to the inhabitants of the different Moroccan towns. The Fassi for example are regarded as elegant, cultivated, intellectual (and conceited).This idea originates in the relevance the city had for the country politically and intellectually. Besides having been the political capital for serveral hundred years, Fès, seat of the famous Kairaouyine university, has also been the intellectual center of Morocco.

So besides visiting the well-known and overrun sites, you should make an effort, get in touch with the people and judge for yourself what the Fassi of today are like. It's worth it...

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Typical Arts and Crafts for Tourists at the Medina

Fès' splendor and glory...

The story of Fès' splendor and glory started with the city's foundation by the first two Idrisside rulers around the beginning of the 9th century. They established settlements on both sides of the Oued Fès with refugees from the Andalusian Cordoba and the Tunesian Kairouan. The refugees - mostly merchants and artisans - contributed to the cities rising economical importance. Fès El Bali, the so called "Old Fès", is still devided by the (partly invisible) river into two main quarters: "Adourat El Kairaouyine" and "Adourat El Andalous".
After the foundation of the Kairaouyine Mosque (9th century), which became a university about a hundred years later, Fès also became one of the intellectual centers of the Arabic world.

The Almoravides and Almohades constantly aggrandized the city. Under the Merenides in the 13th, 14th and 15th century Fès, now again capital, experienced its bloom. The Merenides not only enlarged the Kairaouyine, but also build a series of medersas to lodge the students and constructed a net of fonduks to enliven the trade. The most important innovation however was the construction of Fès El Djedid ("New Fès"), a new quarter at the gates of Fès El Bali. Here the Sultan Abu Yussuf Yaqub (1258-1286) erected his new residence and the administrative center of the country.

When the Saadites came to reign Fès lost its status as a capital to Marrakech. With the emerging of the Alaouites in the 17th century it was reintroduced to its old rights (except under Moulay Ismail, who prefered Meknès) and stayed capital until the French Protectorate in the beginning of the 20th century.
In the "Convention of Fès" 1912 Sultan Abd El Hafiz consigned most of Morocco as a "Protectorate" to the French, and the capital was moved to Rabat. Fès lost its political and economical function and evolved into the center of the resistance against the French. Here the Istiqlal Party - conservative, nationalist and pro-monarchy - who worked against the French occupation and called for an independent Morocco, was founded in 1943.

Today Fès is the provincial capital of the "Wilaya de Fès-Boulemane" .

In English:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fez,_Morocco
lexicorient.com/morocco/fez.htm
www.carfree.com/fes

In French:
www.linternaute.com/voyage/maroc/fes
www.quid.fr/monde.html?mode=detail&iso=ma&style=doc&nbphot=1&id=50493&docid=196
www.quid.fr/monde.html?mode=detail&iso=ma&style=doc&nbphot=1&id=50494&docid=197
www.southbazar.com/infos/pays/fes.htm
www.alwatan.ma/html/Chaines/Tourisme/fes.asp

In German:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%A8s
www.marokko.net/info/staedte/html/fes.html
www.arabic-art.de/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=29
(Except for a few grammatical mistakes, this article has a lot of interesting information.)

Fès maps:
www.quid.fr/monde.html?mode=detail&iso=ma&style=carte&nbphot=1&id=50493&docid=810#map
www.quid.fr/monde.html?mode=detail&iso=ma&style=carte&nbphot=1&id=50494&docid=811#map
www.planetware.com/map/fez-fes-fas/fes-southeast-map-mar-fes_se.htm
www.planetware.com/map/fez-fes-fas/fes-northeast-map-mar-fes_ne.htm
www.planetware.com/map/fez-fes-fas/fes-northwest-map-mar-fes_nw.htm
www.planetware.com/map/fez-fes-fas/fes-southwest-map-mar-fes_sw.htm

Fès photos:
www.voyagevirtuel.info/maroc03/fes/fes1.php
photosmaghreb.canalblog.com/archives/maroc___fes/index.html
voyage-bons-plans.aufeminin.com/album/see_117149/le-maroc-de-vlle-en-ville-inoublable-fes.html