Morocco: Medinas and Mosques

Finally, on the north african coast! After months of planning and being excited and uncertain in turn, it was a great feeling to stand outside the Mohammed V international airport in Casablanca.
Casablanca, the commercial capital of Morocco, was a slight anticlimax though. The city came across as a poor cousin of Mumbai, full of traffic and crowds and an overall sense of poverty.



The only stand out is the magnificent Hassan II mosque, built in the '80s with the specific purpose of giving Casablanca the landmark it lacks, which it does in grand style.


The mosque is built on a promontory on the Atlantic ocean, with the vast grime of Casa behind it. It is simply awesome to look out over the Atlantic, and know that the next mainland coast in that direction is that of North America!





The trail through Morocco continued by train inwards, towards the imperial cities of Meknes and Fes. Meknes for us turned out more of a stop over rather than a real visit, and the shut fastness of the imperial city gates only left a lingering curiosity of the wonders inside.



Fes is the real gem, and worth every minute of the time you manage to spend here. It is the capital of moroccan handicrafts, and specializes in many things: leather, pottery, fabrics among others. Is is said that the king's palace in Fes is the grandest among his many palaces in the country, very likely due to the fact that the city is home to his wife's family.



Fes has the third largest medina (walled town) in the world, after Istanbul and Cairo. The hidden twisting lanes are built with the express intention of confusing foreign invaders, something that it still manages to do easily.



Rising over the shops and houses are large and small moorish towers, signifying the nearly 400 mosques in the medina. Many of the mosques have stiking intricate tile designs, often made by the patronage of rich merchants. The city has a number of noted institutions of religious studies like the Bou Inania Madrasa, and the Al-Karaouine university, one of the oldest in the world.






Fes is a stimulation of the senses, an appetizer to the wonders of this country while being in itself a vivid and unforgettable delight.