Fez, Morocco

Fez or Fes is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco after Casablanca, with a population of 1.22 million. Located to the northeast of the Atlas Mountains, Fez is situated at a crossroad connecting the important cities of different regions; 206 km from Tangier to the northwest, 246 km from Casablanca, 189 km from Rabat to the west, and 387 km from Marrakesh to the southwest which leads to the Trans-Saharan trade route. It is surrounded by hills and the old city is centered around the Fez River flowing from west to east.

Fez was founded under Idrisid rule during the 8th-9th centuries CE. It initially consisted of two autonomous and competing settlements. Successive waves of mainly Arab immigrants from Ifriqiya and al-Andalus in the early 9th century gave the nascent city its Arab character.