We started out the day going to a Fez Museum. This 1200 year old city, is the real museum. One of the main feelings being in the Medina (Old City) is the lack of Western Tourists. You run into French, Italian and Spanish tourists but very few American tourists. I would estimate walking down the very crowded streets (really alleys of the Medina) 90% plus of all the people that run into our Moroccans.
The Medina is now completely Arab in culture. It used to be split between the Andalusian and the Arab Medina by the river running through it, now it is all Arab in character.
We then went to the tannery. This is a very old area of the Medina, where the hides of the cows, camels, sheep, etc. are treated and dyed in various colors. Only men work in the tannery, waist deep in the vats processing and dying the leather.
We stayed in the Medina all day wondering down alleys with no idea where we were, then suddenly entering through a door into an ancient mansion that has been restored to its former glory and is now a store of some sort. The zoning is quite strong in the Medina and the look hasn’t changed much in 1200 years.
All around Fes there are improvements happening in the walls and other infrastructure. This is definitely a city that is not fallen on hard times but rather is being maintained generously by the Government.
Cathy went shopping for clothes. Didn’t look right on her.
We visited a very tiny brocade weaving studio. This very primitive operation had a loom I had never seen before. It took two men to operate it. One man sat at the end doing the traditional running of the loom. The other man sat at the side of the loom changing the pattern between every pass of the thread. It was an amazingly complex operation that they are able to perform in an automatic fashion without probably thinking of what they are doing. The result textile is extremely valuable and rare.
We haven’t been to enough of Morocco to make any sort of definitive statement, but to all of us, if you are going to Morocco go to Fes. This is the magical town that is a living museum.
we must have had the same guide. i went to the weaver and the tanner on the same day in Fes..
ReplyDeletebut don't eat at the rug dealer.. that was a bad choice, although I found a great Berber rug, which was in fact very old and smelled like a camel, which romeo still loves a good roll on to this day..