Mellah

Mellah

Overview:

It is one of the most important tourist places in Fes, it is located in the new part of the city, and was an old Jewish quarter.

It is located north of the Royal Palace, and is filled with many houses that were once home to the Jews who lived in the city.

The Jewish cemetery is located at the edge of the neighborhood, and is considered one of the most important landmarks in the area; This is in addition to the Jewish Museum, which includes a collection of pieces that reflect the culture and way of life of the Jews of Fes.

Historic overview:

Until the thirteenth century, Jews, Christians and Muslims coexisted in Fes el-Bali, today's ancient city.

However, during the Almohad era, severe restrictions were imposed on the Jews, and they were not allowed to practice their religious rites freely except during the era of the Marinid state.

In 1276, the Marinids founded the "New Fes" of the modern city, and since the new quarter was built in the place of the old salt (Mellah) market; It was called the "Mellah".

The majority of those who settled in the new neighborhood were Jews, so the term Mellah became a synonym and a name for all the Jewish neighborhoods that were built in the subsequent centuries in various Moroccan cities.

The "Mallah" in Fes witnessed significant historical events. In 1942, a large number of Jewish immigrants from the Iberian Peninsula arrived in the city with their various religious and linguistic loads.

The "Mellah" experienced again in the second half of the seventeenth century a tremendous growth in the number of its residents, when about 1,300 families were expelled from the town of Ait Ishaq by Moulay Rachid and migrated to the city of Fes. The result was a crowding of people in the previously crowded and narrow neighborhoods and streets of Mellah, which resulted in the construction of a new number of houses.

Resources:

moroccotourisme website

murtahil website

hespress website

agazaclick website

almrsal website

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