The Men with Fez in Fes

We were invited into a private residence for a concert of Sufi Music. Sufis are an offshoot of the Muslim religion and are thought of as mystical. The son of the most famous poet of all started them: Rumi. They believe above all in non-violence. They Whirling Dervishes are Sufis but each country as their own interpretation of the religion.

In Morocco Sufis achieve a trance-like state by singing and breath control and dance. They have no musical accompaniment as the sing their Praise of Allah. We were in the living room of a very nice house in the new quarter of Fes. They sang for about an hour and a half. Our hands were anointed with orange water before and after the singing, incense were burned in a silver bowl and carried to us and the smoke pushed with hands towards each person. The Sufi Singers devote their life to this singing of their devotion to Allah.

After we left an important thing was clarified for me: the difference between Fez and Fes. The name of the city we are in is Fes. The name of the red hat with a tassel worn by the seated man in the picture is a Fez. The issue of course is in transliterating the Arabic to English they both sound alike. Now I know the correct spelling. We have been to Turkey where the Fez is banned, and it was enlightening to see men wearing them here in Fes.

We went to a pottery factory. Everyone has had Moroccan Olives, and the picture above is a fantastic one of them. But I bet you didn’t know they save all of the olive pits and use them to fire the kilns of the pottery. There aren’t a lot of trees in the desert that they would want to chop down, so this way they can leave the olive trees growing and re-cycle the pits!

We drove back to the Medina (old city) and walked around and shopped in the afternoon. Fes is very lucky the French built the New City next to the Medina. The Medina is UNSPOILED. There are NO new buildings among its 15,000 alleys. You step back 1200 years when you enter the Medina. You can’t possibly think of entering it without a guide. It is a total and complete maze with some extremely narrow alleys. Not even room enough for a Donkey.

The architecture in the Medina is known as Hidden Architecture. All you see are alleys and doors. You have no idea what is behind the doors. We have been to restaurants and shops that are literally converted palaces inside the Medina, all entered off of a non-descript alley with absolutely no indication of what lies beyond the door. Fes was a wealthy city and the palaces and grand homes we have been in are amazing.

As you can tell from the picture, the shopkeepers can relax between customers! At 5pm when you hear the call to prayers, the doors of the many Mosques in the Medina swing open and you can see the men and women file into pray.

Fez is by far our favorite city we have visited in Morocco. One more thing that should be said about Morocco, 3 cheers for their Bread! These people know how to bake!