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 Fez - History

Fez was founded in 789 by a descendant of the prophet Idriss ben Abdellah better known as Idriss I. The foundations were laid in what is now the Andalusian Quarter. According to legend, Fez or Fas, "pick" in Arabic, owes its name to a tool found on the site at the time it was being built. It was only in 809 under the rule of Idriss II that the town became the royal residence of the Idrissid Dynasty. From 818 onwards, the sultan was to welcome in his city eight thousand Andalusian Moslem families who settled on the right bank of the oued (river) Fez in the quarter built by Idriss I.

Seven years later, this new population was swollen by the arrival of Jewish and Kairouanais (from Tunisia) who settled on the left bank of the oued. Enriched by these various religions cultural and architectural heritages, Fez rapidly became the spiritual and cultural centre of Morocco. The building, in 857, of the famous Qaraouiyne Mosque symbolises this cultural influence.