Main Entry Doors, Royal Palace, Fez. December 2019
Fez is old.
I took the train from Meknes to Fez, just about an hour's ride. The Fez train station is super modern, perhaps in anticipation of getting high speed rail one day. Unfortunately, it is far removed from the old part of the city. As usual, I hoofed it - I never knew what I would find along the way walking into a city from the edge. In fact, I passed through the old Jewish quarter (Mellah), a lovely city park, and then finally came upon these MASSIVE doors which I came to learn were the entrance to the Royal Palace.
For centuries Fez was the capital of Morocco and it was only during the French Colonial Era that it was moved to Rabat. Hence, the Royal Palace of Fez is one of the grandest in the Kingdom. Just to get an idea of how old Fez really is, consider that this palace was laid out in "new Fez" in the 14th century because the one in the old city was too cramped and too dangerous in case of a popular revolt. Therefore, Dar al-Makhzen, "the palace", is quite old by Western European standards, but locally "new" since Fez itself predates it by centuries. Because the palace was built in "New Fez", there was lots of space and it expanded over the years to include many buildings and pleasure gardens (all off-limits to the public). Even if it were open to tourists, the palace now contained more "recent" 17th and 18th century buildings due to centuries of upgrades and renovations, so compared to most of Old Fez, it would not appear ancient at all. In fact, the entry I found myself in front of was the "new" entry gate to the south. The original entry was on the opposite side of the large complex. Add to that, that the absolutely TOWERING twin metal doors where people were having their photos taken were only put there in 1971. Thus, the new entrance to the somewhat old palace in "New Fez" (which was old) was actually VERY new.
I really didn't care. I appreciated the nice garden and wide plaza in front of the door with its low key vehicle entry nearby. It was one of those places with guards that sometimes blew their whistles at people to move away (from where?) while at the same time letting people come close and take photos and selfies. What was forbidden seemed random and arbitrary. I was impressed nonetheless. Just a short distance down the road was the "Blue Gate" to the old city. If this was the just the palace entry, what was Fez Al-Bali (the old city) going to hold?
I walked to the Blue Gate in hopes that Fez would be more exotic and less touristy than I anticipated. My expectations were actually quite low.
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