Bobbe's trip to Morocco, part 3: around the Fez medina

Bobbe continues telling us about her trip to Fez.

In my last post, I told you about Al-Karaouine University and its associated mosque, two buildings which are right at the heart of the old city in Fez. Today, I'm going to tell you about the other parts of the Fez medina that I enjoyed on my trip to Fez.

Very close to the mosque and the university is an important school. In Islamic countries, a traditional school that teaches Arabic and Islamic classics is known as a madrasa, which is the Arabic word for school. Different schools were founded as charitable gifts to the community by different networks of wealthy citizens. The school I visited in Fez was founded by the perfumers' guild (al-'atarin in Arabic). If you were a student in old-time Fez, and if you desired a traditional education, you could get a scholarship to study at the madrasat al-'atarin, which is the "school of the perfumers." Your scholarship would give you a very tiny dorm room, some free food, access to the school's books, and one new suit of clothes every year. Does West Woodland Elementary School give you a new suit of clothes each year?

Here I am in the courtyard of the traditional school.

In a traditional Islamic school, the most important book that students studied was the Qur'an. They would have to memorize the entire Qur'an word for word in order to graduate. Before the modern era, books were really expensive. Rather than buying your own books, you memorized the copies that were present in your school. Once you had memorized enough books, you could graduate and be considered a scholar.

What a beautiful courtyard!

The school of the perfumers, like other traditional madrasas, is laid out around a courtyard. All of the teachers at the school would sit under the columns in one of the corners of the courtyard. Their students would crowd around them and listen to them.

Note that the school is intricately decorated with tiles and carvings. As with all Islamic art, this artwork is abstract -- Islamic art does not permit depictions of people, animals, or things.

A close-up of the side of the school.

Most of the old city of Fez is devoted to buying and selling things. The medina is like one huge market. Particular sections of the market are known for selling particular items, such pottery, spices, henna, leather, or tin. Now, the whole market is fairly touristy.

I pose in front of one of the market stalls specializing in traditional Fassi pottery.

Here I am in front of a traditional hospital in Fez. In the Middle Ages, Islamic medicine (which was based on ancient Greek medicine) was much more advanced than medicine in Europe. When the plague struck Fez, doctors would wear huge beaks filled with spices, which they believed would prevent them from contracting the plague. I like to imagine doctors with beaks scurrying around this hospital.

I stand outside the traditional Fassi hospital.

Here I am at the shrine of Moulay Idriss. Moulay Idriss was one of the great leaders of Morocco who had his capital in Fez. Today, the site where he is buried attracts pilgrims. Moulay Idriss was seen as a protector of Fez's once-significant Jewish population, so his shrine is sacred to both Muslims and Jews. In the side of the shrine is a little slot through which you can slip a prayer.

I contemplate what to slip through the prayer slot at the shrine of Moulay Idriss.

All this walking around the medina made me very hungry, so I stopped in a beautiful old merchant's house to have some lunch. I ate a dish called pastilla, which is a traditional Moroccan specialty. Pastilla consists of pigeon mixed with almonds and baked inside a sweet, flaky crust. It was terrific!

I pose behind my pastilla.

After my pastilla, I felt like it was time to do some shopping. Fez has long been a great commercial center, so it gets goods from all around North Africa. Here I am trying on a necklace of the kind that women wear in the Sahara.

This necklace is a little too big for me.

And this picture shows what happened after I have asked the slipper salesman for a particular size and color.

This guy goes out of his way to provide superlative customer service.

What a great day in Fez!

--Bobbe