The Imperial City of Fez

Today a scenic coach ride through the heart of the north African grain belt took us to this greatest and most ancient of Morocco's historic capitals. Plunging into the Medina, the medieval heart of the city, we found ourselves immersed in a world of commerce, study, worship and day to day life, little changed for over a thousand years. Within the maze of narrow, twisting alleys we found new scenes and striking contrasts around every corner. Heavily laden donkeys and their shouting drivers brushed past us in the busy streets, while a few steps away crystal fountains bubbled in the quiet of cool, tiled courtyards. The pungent odor of the tannery, still working as exactly as it has for hundreds of years to produce the raw material for fine Moroccan leather goods, mixed with the gentler scents of perfumed candles and fresh herbs in the produce market. Tailors' shops, brassworkers' shops, carpet emporiums, jewelers, antique dealers, and many, many more were all crammed to overflowing with a chaotic variety of goods and products of every kind; but behind the gates of the mosques, universities and stately private homes, the precise order of geometric mosaics and elaborate carvings held sway, drawing the eye from one lovely detail to another on a journey of rapt contemplation. There is nowhere else on earth like Fez. When we finally emerged, we felt that we had been transformed by a journey deep into the inner sanctum of the Arabic world.