Opposite the entrance to the medersa (above eye-level) is a famous 14th-century water clock designed by a
clockmaker and part-time magician. Carved beams hold brass bowls with water flowing between them to mark the hours, but
the secret of its mechanism apparently died with its creator.
Continuing downhill, take the time to slip off the main street to have a look at the many old funduqs (caravanserai) on the left
hand side of Talaa Kebira. These once hosted merchants and their caravans, and have rooms on several levels around a wide
courtyard big enough for both goods and pack animals. A particularly interesting one is Funduq Kaat Smen , which
specialises in selling more varieties of honey than you could imagine, and vats of smen, the rancid butter used in cooking. Try
honey and smen smeared on bread – it’s a singular (but tasty) experience.
About 400m from the Medersa Bou Inania, as you go around an unmistakeable dogleg, you’ll catch sight of the pretty, green-
tiled minaret of the Chrabliyine Mosque (named for the slipper-makers who can still be found working in this area) straight
ahead.
Still heading downhill, past the shoe sellers and a group of leatherworkers, about 230m from the Gazleane mosque, look out
for a right turn onto Derb Fkahrine and a sign indicating the entrance to a tiny tree-filled square known as the henna souq –
if you reach the Dar Saada restaurant, you’ve gone too far. Nowadays there are more stalls here selling blue Fez pottery than
henna, which Moroccan women use to decorate their hands and feet for events such as weddings.
Exiting the henna souq the same way you entered, head south with your back to Dar Saada. After roughly 50m a right turn
brings you into Place an-Nejjarine , a larger square dominated by one of the city’s most beautiful fountains and a most
impressive funduq – now beautifully restored and transformed into the Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts & Crafts. The lanes
immediately north of the museum form part of the Souq an-Nejjarine (Carpenters’ Souq), where you’ll see craftsmen
putting finishing touches to glittering thrones used in wedding ceremonies.
From Place an-Nejjarine, continue south and turn left almost immediately down a lane, ducking under the bar that prevents
the passage of mules and donkeys. The lane leads between stalls piled high with candles and other offerings, to the entrance
of Zawiya Moulay Idriss II . You may peer into the bright, tiled interior, although non-Muslims may not enter. Moulay Idriss II
is highly revered – to Fassis this is the heart of their city.
Afterwards, the simplest thing is to backtrack to Dar Saada on Talaa Kebira. Follow the lane east – over a slight hummock
and past haberdashers’ stalls – until it ends at a T-intersection about 100m later, where you’ll find the Medersa el-Attarine
.
On emerging from the medersa, turn left (south). After you’ve passed the Pâtisserie Kortouba – a handy stop – the
shops come to a sudden end at the walls of the great Kairaouine Mosque & University . The university claims to be the
world’s oldest and is surpassed only by Al-Azhar in Cairo as a centre of Muslim learning. Among its many luminaries was the
pre-eminent historian Ibn Khaldun, and you may catch sight of his successors hurrying to lessons.
As you proceed along the university walls anticlockwise, the sound of metalworkers leads you into another small and
attractive square, Place as-Seffarine (Brass-makers’ Square). The air rings with the sound of metalwork. Look out for the
huge pans and plates that are hired out for wedding parties. With the university walls (and the entrance to its library) still on
your left, there is the small Medersa as-Seffarine , with a studded cedar door, on the square’s east side. Built in 1280, it is
the oldest medersa in Fez, but is in an advanced state of disrepair.
Still following the mosque walls anticlockwise (now heading north) keep a lookout on the right for the 14th-century
Funduq Tastawniyine , with its rickety wooden galleries. Originally the preserve of businessmen from Tetouan, it served for
centuries as a hotel and warehouse for travelling merchants.
If you continue around the Kairaouine, you’ll pass its ornate north door before arriving back where you started beside the
patisserie. From here you can retrace your steps uphill to Bab Bou Jeloud. If you prefer an alternate route, turn south off Talaa
Kebira at Ain Allou – this street turns into Talaa Seghira, the medina’s other main thoroughfare.
Otherwise, return only as far as Dar Saada, then turn north to reach Bab Guissa in the northern medina. Stick to the wider
streets and you’ll reach a little square with a disused cinema on its north side. Take the lane heading northwest and keep going
up – you’ll pass plenty of donkeys carrying sacks from the local cement merchant.
As you near Bab Guissa you can see the late-19th-century Sofitel Palais Jamaï . What is now a luxury hotel was built by
Sidi Mohammed ben Arib al-Jamaï, the grand vizier to Moulay al-Hassan I. Set in well-watered gardens, the former palace is a
wonderful place to rest and admire the view. You can catch an onward petit taxi from Bab Guissa.