Best Photo Spots in Fes Medina

The grand old leather tannery of Fes el-Bali is the city's most photographed sight — and justifiably so. The colour-pot grid looks best in soft morning light before the sun climbs too high and blows out the white lime pits. Leather shops above the tannery let you step onto their terrace for a direct overhead view; many let you in for free provided you hear their sales pitch, or you can offer a small tip (20–30 MAD is appreciated). The Terrasse Merinides café on the southern fringe and Ain Azliten tannery viewpoint give slightly different angles. Avoid Friday mid-morning when the pots are most actively worked and the smell is strongest — unless that authenticity is the shot you're after.

This 14th-century theological college sits a two-minute walk from the Karaouiyne Mosque. The courtyard is small — perhaps 15 metres square — but the zellige tilework on the lower walls and carved cedar screens above catch direct overhead light from mid-morning. Entry costs 20 MAD (indicative; verify at the gate). Stand near the central marble basin and shoot upward to capture the carved stucco arches against the open sky. The space fills up by noon with tour groups, so arriving as it opens around 9 am gives you a quiet 30-minute window.

The blue-tile facade of Bab Bou Jeloud is the ceremonial entry to Fes el-Bali and one of Morocco's most reproduced gate photographs. The interior face is decorated in green (the colour of Islam) while the exterior face is the iconic cobalt blue. Stand about 30 metres back on the Fes el-Jdid side to capture the full arch with the chaotic street life flowing beneath it. Late afternoon light warms the tiles beautifully. The small café terraces on Bou Inania street just inside the gate give an elevated angle looking back toward the gateway.

While Chefchaouen owns the blue-walls reputation, Fes el-Bali's Andalusian quarter (on the eastern bank of the Oued Fes) has its own blue-and-white painted alleyways that almost nobody visits. The lanes around Sidi Bou Ghaleb mosque are genuinely narrow — in places barely a metre wide — and the compressed perspective rewards a longer lens (85 mm equivalent). Look for doorways festooned with potted geraniums and the occasional cat sleeping in a shaft of sunlight. Because this part of the medina receives far fewer visitors than the Karaouiyne side, you will often have entire lanes to yourself.

Nejjarine Square holds one of the finest examples of a Moroccan tiled fountain, framed by a caravanserai (fondouk) that has been converted into a wood-craft museum. Early morning, before the souk wakes fully, the square is lit by raking light from the east and smells of cedar shavings from the surrounding woodworkers' workshops. Shoot the fountain from the stairway landing of the fondouk for a high angle that captures the geometric tile pattern without tourist heads in frame. The wood museum rooftop (entry ~10 MAD) also gives a bird's-eye view across the square's rooftops.

Bou Inania is the most elaborate madrasa in Fes and the only religious building in the medina that non-Muslims can enter freely (entry ~20 MAD indicative). The central courtyard is larger than Al-Attarine and the carved cedarwood panelling reaches three storeys high. Light enters from the open roof in a dramatic column around 10 am in winter and slightly earlier in summer. The shallow reflecting pool at ground level creates mirror shots on still mornings. Climb to the student gallery level for a direct sightline across the carved stucco screens.

Most visitors never climb to the northern ramparts above the medina, but Borj Nord — a 16th-century Portuguese-style artillery bastion that now houses a weapons museum — gives the best elevated panorama over the terracotta rooftops of Fes el-Bali. A petit taxi from Bab Bou Jeloud costs around 20–30 MAD (indicative). At dusk, the minarets turn amber and the call to prayer echoes across the valley. A 70–200 mm equivalent lens compresses the minarets and rooftop terraces into a satisfying cityscape. The Merinid Tombs hill to the northwest is an alternative but Borj Nord is higher and the view is cleaner.