Fez' Medina Wanderlost Tours With a Professional Guide

The atmospheric old Mellah (Jewish Quarter) is in Fes el Jedid, just south of the Royal Palace.Throughout this compact district, the lanes are lined with fine (though highly dilapidated) examples of early 20th-century houses, which were once home to the vibrant Jewish community of Fes.Within the district, the small, restored Aben-Danan Synagogue is open for visitors.On the edge of the Mellah is the rambling Jewish cemetery, one of the city's most tranquil spots, and a Jewish Museum housing a collection of objects highlighting Moroccan Jewish life and culture.

Borj Nord and Merenid Tombs :For the best views over Fes el Bali, walk up the steep hill just outside the city ramparts, to the Borj Nord area.Here, you'll find a 16th-century fortress, home to a military museum. The museum is worth a look for its collection of weapons, which includes some extremely rare pieces that represent armory from across the world. Amid the cache is the five-meter-long cannon (with a weight of 12 tons) that was used during the Battle of the Three Kings.After viewing the arms museum, keep heading up the hill to the summit where a scattering of golden-stoned Merenid tombs sits.Although the tombs are in a heavily ruined state today, you're here for the views, which take in the entire walled medina area and

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.

The Merenids built this "New City" in the 13th century, when they realized that Fes el Bali would be too small to contain their palaces.The grand Royal Palace takes center stage here. Its 80 hectares of grounds are not open to the public, though, you can stop and admire its ornately decorated entranceway.There's a tranquil air to this small section of the city, which sits between bustling Fes el Bali and the European-style Ville Nouvelle, and it makes a welcoming, peaceful lull between these two faster-paced worlds.The mellah (Jewish quarter) is in the southern section of this district.

The Batha Museum is inside a Hispano-Moorish summer palace built in the late 19th century. The museum collection traipses through a selection of traditional Moroccan craftsmanship, with wood carved doors, wrought-iron work, embroidery, carpets, and jewelry all on display. The centerpiece exhibit of the museum is the ceramics room, where the famous Fassi ceramic collection, colored with cobalt, is displayed. More interesting than the displays themselves is the building's own original decoration and the lovely internal courtyard garden, which is full of shady trees and tall palms and is a true oasis within the city. The Batha Museum is in the southwest corner of the medina.

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.

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.

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.

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.