Fez (Fes): Islamic Heritage City
Suggest editFoundation and Early History
Fez (فاس), known in Arabic as Fas, was founded in 789 CE by Idris I ibn Abdallah, a descendant of the Prophet ﷺ through Hasan ibn Ali, who had fled the Abbasid persecution and established the Idrisid dynasty in the Maghreb. The city was expanded substantially by his son Idris II, who moved the capital there around 809 CE and invited thousands of Arab families from Andalusia and Qayrawan to settle. These two communities—the Andalusians on the western bank and the Qarawaniyyin on the eastern bank of the Wadi Fez—gave the city its initial dual character and brought high levels of literacy, craftsmanship, and scholarly culture. Within a generation, Fez had grown into one of the foremost cities of the Islamic world west of Egypt.
Al-Qarawiyyin: The World's Oldest University
The most enduring contribution of Fez to Islamic civilization is the University of al-Qarawiyyin (جامعة القرويين). Founded in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri, a pious woman whose family had emigrated from Qayrawan in present-day Tunisia, al-Qarawiyyin began as a mosque and grew into a fully developed institution of higher learning. It is recognized by UNESCO and the Guinness World Records as the oldest existing, continuously operating university in the world. At its height, al-Qarawiyyin attracted students and scholars from across the Muslim world and beyond. Its curriculum encompassed the full range of Islamic sciences—Quran, hadith, fiqh, Arabic grammar, rhetoric—alongside mathematics, astronomy, history, and philosophy. Among those who studied at or were associated with al-Qarawiyyin were the historian and sociologist Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406 CE), the geographer al-Idrisi, the Jewish philosopher Maimonides (who lived in Fez before emigrating), and Pope Sylvester II (Gerbert of Aurillac), who is credited with introducing Arabic numerals to Europe after his studies in Andalusia and possibly Fez.
The Medina of Fez: A Living Heritage
The old city of Fez, known as Fes el-Bali, is the world's largest car-free urban area and one of the most complete medieval Islamic cities still inhabited today. Its approximately 9,000 narrow, winding lanes contain over 300 mosques, 100 Quranic schools, 150 hammams, and hundreds of traditional workshops producing leather, ceramics, brass, textiles, and woodwork using methods largely unchanged for centuries. The Andalusian Mosque and the Qarawiyyin Mosque—both originally built in the 9th century and expanded by successive dynasties—anchor the medina's religious life. The ablution fountain of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and its prayer hall, which can accommodate 22,000 worshippers, represent the height of Moroccan Islamic artistry.
Marinid and Later Architectural Splendors
The Marinid dynasty (1244-1465 CE) was the most prolific builder in Fez's history. They constructed several of the finest madrasas in the Islamic world, including the Bou Inania Madrasa (1351-1356 CE) and the al-Attarine Madrasa (1323-1325 CE). Both feature the signature Moroccan style: lower walls covered with intricate geometric zellij tilework, middle sections of elaborately carved stucco with arabesque and calligraphic motifs, and upper sections of carved cedar wood screens and ceilings with stained glass windows. The Bou Inania Madrasa also contains a distinctive water clock on its facade, a testimony to the sophisticated scientific culture of Marinid Fez. The royal Merenid necropolis overlooking the city from the north hills provides panoramic views of the medina.
Scholarly Legacy and Continuing Influence
Throughout its history, Fez produced or hosted scholars of the first rank in every Islamic discipline. The Maliki school of jurisprudence, dominant in North Africa, found in Fez its western stronghold, and generations of Maliki jurists, hadith scholars, grammarians, physicians, and mystics were formed there. The city's traditional crafts—leather tanning in the famous Chouara tannery using methods unchanged since the 11th century, hand-knotted carpet weaving, brasswork, and the production of fezzes (felt hats that took their English name from the city)—represent a living link to the material culture of medieval Islamic civilization. Fez was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981, recognizing its unique preservation of Islamic urban heritage.