Fes el Bali

Fes el Bali (Arabic: فاس البالي‎) (English: Old Fez) is the oldest walled part of Fez, Morocco. Fes el Bali was founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. Besides being famous for having the oldest existing, continually operating university in the world, the University of Al-Karaouine, Fes el Bali, with a total population of 156,000, is also believed to be the biggest car-free urban area in the world.[failed verification]

UNESCO listed Fes el Bali, along with Fes Jdid, as a World Heritage Site in 1981 under the name Medina of Fez. The World Heritage Site includes Fes el Bali's urban fabric and walls as well as a buffer zone outside of the walls that is intended to preserve the visual integrity of the location.

Fes el Bali is, along with Fes Jdid and the French-created Ville Nouvelle or “New Town”, one of the three main districts in Fez.

History

As the capital for his newly acquired empire, Idris ibn Abdallah chose to build a new town on the right bank of the Fez River in 789 CE. Many of the first inhabitants were refugees fleeing from an uprising in Cordoba (modern-day Spain) However, in 809 CE his son, Idris II, decided to found a capital of his own on the opposite bank of the Fez River. Even though they were only separated by a relatively small river the cities developed separately and became two individual cities until they were unified in the 11th century by the Almoravids. There were many refugees who decided to settle in the new city this time too, however this time they fled from an uprising in Kairouan (in modern Tunisia). One good example of how the refugees contributed to making Fez flourish during the early years is the University of Al-Karaouine (or al-Qarawiyyin) that was built by a Tunisian refugee in 859 CE. It is considered the oldest university in the world.

Under the Almoravids, Fez lost its status as a capital when the Almoravids created Marrakech, which they made their capital. The Almoravids...