Expert guide (Fez' Highlights & Hidden Gems: Mosque , Souks & City Views)

This square is walled on one side by the grand, horseshoe-arched entrance to the al-Qarawiyyin Library, and centres on a gnarled plane tree.But it’s the sounds, as much as the sights, that make Place Seffarine special, as the rest of square is given over to copperware, a craft that goes back many centuries in Fez.You’ll hear the clang of craftsmen shaping and polishing their wares long before set foot on Place Saffarine.This handmade copperware hangs, glinting in the shopfronts, where you can haggle for buckets, pots, pans, tagines, trays, incense burners, couscous steamers, sieves, kettles, sugar boxes and a lot more besides.

In the middle of the Medina you’ll happen upon a tight passageway beckoning you onto a square in the shade of large old plane trees and the high minaret of the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II.It’s thrilling to think that henna has been sold at this very place for centuries.You’ll see it traded here as leaves, which are dried and ground into a paste.Traditionally this is applied to women’s hands during wedding ceremonies.Stalls here are also laden with antimony (kohl), as well as other traditional cosmetics like rosewater, rhassoul, musk and lavender essence.

For keen shoppers, the skinny souq (market) lanes of Fes el Bali are one of the major attractions of a Fes stay.Fes is renowned within Morocco for its artisan heritage, and you'll find all types of Moroccan handicrafts here, from leatherwork to metalware and ceramics.The local ceramic tradition (called Fassi ceramics), made from local clay, tends towards blue tones and is usually hand-painted with intricate patterns and recurring motifs.The streets just west of the Qaraouiyine Mosque have the greatest concentration of shopping opportunities.As with Marrakesh, more tourist orientated shops, selling a range of souvenir-style giftware and more mass-produced items, as well as the big carpet emporiums, tend to line main roads in the medina such as Talaa Kebira. Specialty artisan workshops are usually found in smaller lanes.

The Medersa Bou Inania was built between 1350 and 1357 by the Merenid sultan Bou Inan.As one of the few religious buildings in the city that non-Muslims may enter, the Medersa (a "madrassa" is an Islamic school of learning) is one of the most popular monuments to visit in Fes and a must-do stop on any tour of the medina.Up until the 1960s, this was still a functioning theological school, and the restoration efforts that were carried out afterwards have carefully returned the medersa to its ornate original state.The carved woodwork and stucco decoration is magnificent and is a tribute to Morocco's master artisans

This fine example of Merenid-era architecture was built in 1325 by Abu Said.The Medersa el-Attarine's central internal courtyard is a wonderful display of the intricate decoration from this period, with elaborate zellige tile work and cedar wood carvings.The upper floor is made up of a warren of cells that were once home to students studying theology at the neighboring Qaraouiyine Mosque, one of the world's first universities.After admiring the building's interior decoration, make sure to climb up onto the medersa's rooftop from where you can get great views over the surrounding rooftops, including a close-up view of the green tiled roof of the Qaraouiyine Mosque next door.

Built in AD 857 by Tunisian immigrants from the holy city of Kairouan, the Qaraouiyine Mosque was a thriving center of theological study and one of the medieval period's most distinguished universities.It vies for title of the oldest university in the world with the Al Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt.Today, in its function as a working mosque, it is one of Morocco's largest centers of worship with a prayer hall that can hold 20,000.

Drawing attention at one end of the Najjariyyin Square in the Old Medina is the magnificent five-metre gateway to this 17th-century khan (inn), crowned with an intricate cedar canopy.Over the portal are gossamer geometric and floral patterns, and incredibly detailed tilework.To the side is a 19th-century saqayya, a fountain for caravans, with astonishing zellige tiles and honeycomb plasterwork.The Funduq, commissioned by the Alaouite Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif, is preserved as a museum for woodwork.You can go in to look up at the three storeys of galleries, and peruse a showcase of artful wood-carving from the city’s past.On display are furniture, doors, musical instruments, canopies and other architectural elements, as well as traditional woodworking tools.

Near the Andalusian Mosque is a Madrasa ordered in 1321 by the Marinid Sultan Abu al-Hassan.Over time this complex became known by its sahrij, the ornamented ablution pool in its courtyard, which is where the name comes from.That rectangular courtyard is enriched with carved cedar, sculpted marble, multicoloured zellige tiles and stucco, all intended to evoke Granada’s fabled Alhambra palace complex.

This shrine at Place de Marche Verte is considered one of the holiest sites in Morocco, holding the mausoleum of Idris II (791-828). Founder of the 200-year Idrisid Dynasty, Idris II is credited with establishing the first Islamic state of Morocco.The shrine, sitting below the tallest minaret in Old Fez, was built between 1717 and 1824, and is mainly for Fez residents, although visiting practising Muslims can also enter the mausoleum.The two-metre wooden bars indicated that the space was off limits for Christians and Jews, but also helped keep donkeys at bay.Now non-Muslims can enter the complex and admire the courtyard’s 18th-century white marble fountain, although the mausoleum at the south end is out of bounds.Pilgrims continue to visit the shrine for good luck, and Idris II has long been associated with fertility among women.From the mausoleum’s entrance, non-Muslims will be able to spot the tomb to the right through the doorway, draped in silk brocade.

The Chouara tanneries of Fes are one of the city's most famous sights. Sitting in the northeast corner of Fes el Bali, just east of the Qaraouiyine Mosque, the tanneries have been the bustling center of the city's leather industry since the medieval era.The only way to get the iconic bird's-eye views over the dying pits, where hides are soaked in a multitude of colors to later become bags, clothing, shoes, and a variety of other products, is to head to the leather stores surrounding the tannery area, which offer views from their rooftops.You have to tip the leather shops for entry, and do expect them to try a bit of sales patter while you're there.Come in the morning if you can, as this is when the tannery pits are still filled with a rainbow palette of dyes.