Medina Madness

 We had a guided tour of the Fez Medina, the old walled city that dates back to the 14th century. We were duly warned by Ibrahim, our tour guide, that this place is not to be explored on our own because there are over 9,500 twisting, turning, narrow alleyways inside and if you get lost, he says it will take 40 years to find you again.  It is such a labarinth that we had three guides to get our group through this place without losing anybody, one in the front with a Gate 1 sign held high that we could follow, one in the middle of the pack to keep people from veering off the wrong way accidentally because they think they’re following our group only to find later that they’re following another tour group, and one guide in the back of the group to make sure no one gets left behind because you can’t help but get separated from the rest of the group at times.  There are 38 of us and literally hundreds of people inside the medina all trying to get through the same labarinth as we were and they were weaving in and out of our group and getting in between our people.  Oh, my.  Let the games begin!

First, let’s give you a little look at what it is we’re dealing with here.  This is an overview of the medina taken from a nearby hillside.  As you can see, it’s large.  Yes, it’s all those sand-colored buildings down there.  

This is the main gate into the medina.  We went in through a smaller gate a little farther down.  

And we’re going in.  Let the madness begin!

As we walked into the medina, it seemed a little narrow.  Our city tour guide, Momo, assured us that this was a broad and spacious boulevard compared to what was ahead.

Then we took a turn and we could all see what he meant.  I took this photo where there happened to be an opening in the roof that let in some good light.  

Did I happen to mention that there are no windows in the medina?  Let’s just say that no windows equals many alleyways with no natural light so those areas are very dim and the floor of the medina is 700 years old and made of cobblestones and is in various degrees of repair, so you really have to watch where you’re stepping - except sometimes you just can’t see where you’re stepping very well.  And no windows also equals no ventilation and Fez is hot.  Very hot.  I’ll let you connect the dots on that one.

Adding to the difficulties of getting through the medina is the fact that in addition to humans of all shapes, sizes and ages trying to get through this thing, you also have carts, donkeys and horses trying to wedge themselves down the alleys full of people.  You constantly hear, “Balat! Balat! Balat!” which is basically the signal to jump back and flatten yourself against a wall because something is coming your way that is going to mow you down if you don’t get out of the way quickly.  

And we were warned not to touch the donkeys.  They come from the tanneries and smell like the tanneries and if you touch them or they brush against you, you will smell like a tannery for a very long time because the stench doesn’t wash off easily.  Let’s just say that I had no desire for eau de rotten eggs to become my new signature fragrance so I avoided the donkeys and learned how to get out of the way quickly!

Despite the challenges of getting through the place, we really enjoyed it.  It was super interesting and full of surprises.  For example, the alleyways look super nondescript, even dilapidated.  You are imagining that the homes behind those doors are absolute hovels.  But it is Moroccan tradition to cover your beauty and have plainness on the outside so that no one becomes envious of what another person has.  Which leads us to the amazing discovery that awaited us when we entered a dar (a home without a garden) inside the medina that had been restored to its former glory and is now used as a carpet showroom.  Keep in mind that this place was RESTORED, not refurbished or redone.  This medina is a world heritage site so everything here is authentic or authentically restored.  I say this because I couldn’t believe what I saw inside.  Based on the outside, a person would never guess in a million years that this existed inside.

Pretty amazing, right?  I could have sat in there all day just drinking it all in.  

Another amazing place we were taken to inside the medina is considered to have been the most beautiful school in Fez.  This place was used as a college centuries ago.  It literally stopped me in my tracks and my jaw hit the floor when I walked in.  This was a school??? Are you sure it wasn’t a palace????

The small windows are windows belonging to rooms where male students lived.  The college was open to both males and females, but females had to live off site.

This little alcove was in one of the lecture halls that was also used for religious services.  Here Momo is demonstrating how the imam would stand when praying or conducting the service.  He would stand facing the wall because the rounded shape of the alcove would amplify his voice so that everyone could hear what he was saying. 

This is a door in the medina.  It’s a little hard to see because the lighting was difficult to shoot a photo in, but this is actually a door within a door.  Momo has his hand on the knocker of the big door.  Below it and towards the center is a second knocker which was used for the second door.  Why the two doors and two door knockers?  Well, each door knocker makes a different sound. The one on the big door makes a deeper sound. Centuries ago, a rider on horseback would ride up to the door and knock on the high knocker and those inside would open the big door to admit the rider and the horse.  The smaller door was for people on foot.  In more modern times, the higher knocker is used by men so those in the household will know a man is at the door and a man from inside the house will answer the door.  The lower knocker is used by women and children so that those in the household will know that a woman should be the one to answer the door.

There are large areas of the medina that are dedicated to market space.  You can buy everything imaginable here, from spices to beans to meat to clothing to pottery to lanterns.  The list goes on and on.

This bakery dates back to the 11th century and has been run by the same family for all these centuries.  Amazing!!! And they still bake bread the old-fashioned way.  It was really hot in there!

We saw a shop where they dye cloth and yarn.  This, too, is done the old-fashioned way using vegetable dyes and boiling water.  The results were beautiful.

We saw other craftsmen in the medina, too.  In Morocco, it is absolutely understood that if your family makes its living through some kind of trade or craft, you will learn and practice that trade or craft, too.  Trades and crafts have been passed down through families for centuries.  Momo told us that even today, children who go to college to become professional people have learned their family’s craft or trade and work in the family business on vacations, no questions asked.  

This gentleman is a coppersmith.  His family has been coppersmithing since the 14th century.  This is how his creations start out.

Here are some of his finished products.

These gentlemen work engraving brass.

It was really cool to get to see not only the finished products, but some of the work that goes into producing them, too.

No visit to the medina would be complete without a visit to the leather tanneries.  This is the largest tannery in Fez and is  many centuries old.  They still tan and dye leather the old-fashioned way.  First, the skins of cattle, camels or goats are soaked in vats of water and lyme to remove the hair and residual tissue.  That is done in the white tanks that you see below.  Then the skins are moved to the brown tanks where they are treated with a mixture that includes pigeon droppings and urine to tan the hides, and then they are dyed using vegetable dyes, not chemical dyes.  The whole process stinks to high heaven!  It’s like rotten eggs with a touch of carrion.  When you enter the building, there is a little old man standing outside the door handing everyone who enters sprigs of mint. Let me tell you, you keep that mint directly under your nose the entire time you’re overlooking those vats.  Good grief, what a stench!!!!

After visiting the tannery, we headed out to see one of the royal palaces of King Mohammed VI, the reigning king of Morocco.  He has several palaces around the country.  

All in all, it was a super fun day, but utterly exhausting. We were so ready to go back to our hotel and rest and get a respite from all the medina madness and the heat.  Fortunately for us, our next day in Morocco would be a great chance to rest up because we had a 10-hour bus trip ahead of us as we headed to Erfoud in the Sahara Desert.  I will have plenty of pictures of our drive in my next post.