{"id":1195,"date":"2010-06-01T00:28:59","date_gmt":"2010-05-31T14:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.richardmcgibbon.com\/news\/?p=1195"},"modified":"2023-04-14T11:44:19","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T01:44:19","slug":"fes-el-bali-june-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.richardmcgibbon.com\/news\/fes-el-bali-june-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"Fes el Bali, June 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fes el Bali<\/p><\/div>\n

This month\u2019s calendar image is Morocco\u2019s Imperial city of Fez, or more specifically Fes el Bali, the old walled medina of Fez. The shot was taken from\u00a0the\u00a0Merenid Tombs overlooking the old medina. Fez is one of my favourite cities for losing myself in. It is one of those cities where around every corner there seems to be something new to explore.<\/p>\n

The medieval capital of Morocco and a great city of high Islamic civilization Fez\u00a0is Morocco’s third largest city. It is one of the country’s four “imperial cities,” the others being Rabat, Marrakech and Meknes.The sprawling maze of\u00a0Fes el Bali \u00a0is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and\u00a0has the honour of being the best-preserved old city in the Arab world.No cars or trucks can enter the narrow streets and transports of goods through the Medina is provided by donkeys, carriages, and motorbikes.<\/p>\n

The city, founded on the banks of the Fez River by Idris I in 789, was populated by Muslims, Moriscos (Moors of Spanish or Portuguese descent)\u00a0and Jews.\u00a0It\u00a0was a\u00a0scientific and religious center where both Muslims and Christians from Europe came to study. The University of Al-Karaouine, founded in AD 859, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world.<\/p>\n

Fez was a major trading post of the Barbary Coast of North Africa and was at the end of a north-south gold trading route from Timbuktu in Mali.\u00a0It was a prime manufacturing location for leather goods\u00a0and\u00a0its tanneries are today still use techniques used in the middle ages.<\/p>\n

For more images of Fez and Morocco click here<\/a><\/p>\n