UNESCO listed Fes el Bali 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.
Stepping through the gate into the walled Fez el Bali (old city) medina is like walking into an ancient world, almost untouched by time. Eight miles of sandstone walls enclose a disorientating maze of 9400 practically unmappable streets. Fes is the oldest of Morocco’s imperial cities and comprised of Fez el Bali (Old Fez), 13th-century Fez el Jdid (New Fez), and the 20th-century Ville Nouvelle, built by the French.
Fez is an Imperial City that has stood in the north of Morocco for a thousand years. Within its dusty walls you’ll find the place where old Morocco still exists – in the elaborate architecture, the historic medina and the throngs of people that make their home here.
