C13 tannery

in the Medina at Fez.  This ancient city is made up of 3 parts - settled first by 8,000 Arab families that had been expelled from Andalusia and shortly after, in 825, by 2,000 families from Kairouan in Tunisia.  The Andalusians brought their skills of learning (the earliest university in the world is here)  and craftsmanship and the Arabs their mosques, stucco, mosaics and other decorative trades which are all still very much in evidence right now.  The city is a labyrinth of passages where we watched all sorts of crafts and had lunch in an amazing old merchants house.  The extra is a picture from on high of part of the old city with the main mosque (of 200) with the madrassa (school)  with green roof. Note the number of Sky dishes everywhere - each family in a building seems to have one.  There is a much more modern area higher up with much French input from their time in charge.

Thanks for all your lovely comments - sorry I just don't have time to reciprocate at the moment.  There was no wifi last night which is why there have been two posts today