Located between the fertile lands of the Saïs and the forests of the Middle Atlas, Fès is the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities. It is the embodiment of the country’s history and its spiritual and religious capital, and as such was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.
Idriss I founded Madinat Fas, on the right bank of the River Fès, in 789. In 808, his son, Idriss II, built another establishment, El-Alya (High Town), on the left bank. In 818, both received hundreds of Muslim refugees expelled from Córdoba and Kairouan, in Tunisia. Within a few years, thanks to these two communities, the two towns became central to the Arabization and Islamization of Morocco.
en
vi
ja
