Hints Archives ⋆ Page 3 of 245 ⋆ The Passenger

November 6, 2024December 24, 2024

Madrasa Bū ʿInānīya

The most important gate to the medina of Fès is the Bab Boujeloud, a gate with three arches visible from the vast Place Boujloud. It is decorated with blue and green tiles referring to the city (blue) and to Islam (green). Behind it, the Rue Talaa Kabira with its countless shops (and hidden restaurants) starts. The first important sight in the medina can be discovered already 130 meters behind the gate: the Medersa Bou Inania or Madrasa Bū ʿInānīya, a wonderful Islamic college. In fact, it is the biggest medersa of the city and also a mosque; both created around the year 1350 CE.

November 5, 2024December 15, 2024

Tannery

The classic cover picture of guidebooks about Morocco is the Tannerie Chouara, hidden in the Medina of Fès. As it is a rather dirty and smelly craft, the tannery is located in the outer part of the old city close to the river. The skins of various animals are first bleached here in basins and later colored in the same way. If you arrive on the right day you can see many craftsmen working between multi-color water basins. The tannery is organized as a collective, many different people work in the same space and various shops surrounding it sell the products.

November 5, 2024December 24, 2024

Derb

The most immersive experience I had while being at Morocco was to explore the medina of Fès. A conglomerate of houses, feeling even more dense than the old town of Jerusalem. A city on multiple hills requiring you to climb up and down, filled with endless merchants and sights hidden in between to discover. Getting there is also an experience because you probably will get lost and your typical ways to get out will not work: in the narrow streets between high houses you’ll not have a good GPS signal and your navigation system will be unable to show you the right path.

November 5, 2024November 28, 2024

Riad Nazha

The Medina of Fès is car-free and therefore having a Riad close to a city gate or road around is a pure necessity. A good option is the Riad Nazha located in the southern, lower part of the city center. The guesthouse is like a palace and it has a wonderful roof terrace with great views on the Borj Sud fortification. And like always in Morocco you can’t see the beauty of this place from the outside – once you’ve found the door after walking between high houses without decorations an unexpected world opens up.

November 4, 2024December 24, 2024

Moulay Ismaïl

Not far away from the Place Lahdim of Meknès you can find the Mausolée de Moulay Ismaïl, a large mausoleum integrated into a mosque. Typically, these religious places are not accessible for non-muslims, but in Meknès this is different: you can take off your shoes and have a look at the mosque and into the burial chamber. Both are lovely decorated in ceramics and marble with an Andalusian-style fountain as the centerpiece. The mosque itself is actually in use and the two open spaces inside the complex are used for open-air prayer as well.

November 4, 2024November 29, 2024

Riad Yacout

When visiting Meknès, the Riad Yacout is a good option for staying overnight. It is not only located directly between the mausoleum of Moulay Ismaïl and the Medina, it is also close to the Bab Mansour city gate and the place Lahdim. Furthermore its entrance is facing the Place Lalla Aouda, a large parking area that can be easily reached by taxi from the train station. What I absolutely enjoyed is the amazing roof terrace of the Riad, giving you great views on the city and the minaret of the mosque being part of the mausoleum.

November 3, 2024December 30, 2024

Art moderne et contemporain

Musée Mohammed VI Art Moderne & Contemporary, Rabat

As the capital city of Morocco, Rabat for sure needs a great art museum. Named after the current ruler Mohammed VI, the Musée d’art moderne et contemporain delivers what you would expect: contemporary art presented in a modern environment. Unfortunately, locals often miss the opportunity to see this wonderful museum because of its rather high entrance fee. The museum was opened in 2014 and on two levels artworks of 200 Moroccan artists from the 20th and 21st century can be seen.

November 3, 2024December 30, 2024

Mausolée Mohammed-V

Mohammed V is one of the rulers the Moroccans will probably not forget. He was the first to request independence from the colonizing countries Spain and France and was sent to exile because of this. After rising civil unrest, he could return in 1956 and successfully negotiate independence and the creation of the kingdom of Morocco. Mohammed V found his final rest in a beautiful and rich mausoleum next to the unfinished mosque of Rabat and the Hassan tower. He and his son Hassan II are protected by five guards in traditional uniforms.

November 3, 2024December 30, 2024

Unfinished mosque

When leaving the medina of Rabat to the southeast you can find an unusual building conglomerate on a hill: the unfinished minaret of an unfinished mosque next to the mausoleum of Mohammed V. A tower with a large field of columns next to an important grave. In the 12th century CE, Yaqub al-Mansur, the ruler of the Almohad empire requested the construction of the largest mosque in all Maghreb states. When he died in 1199 CE the construction works were stopped immediately and you can still see that state today.

November 3, 2024December 30, 2024

Kasbah des Oudaïas

The most beautiful place at Rabat is the Kasbah des Oudaïas. In fact, it is a combination of two kasbahs created by two different Moroccan dynasties to protect the city from pirates and serving as a royal seat. Directly at the ocean you can discover the old kasbah which is today a residential area filled with restaurants and touristy shops. You can climb up between the houses to the bélvèdere giving you great views on the ocean and the river. It is easy to imagine how this was once a military facility to protect the city. You can enter and leave this place through the historic Bab des Oudaïas gate.