[Dec. 2025] Our next stop on our Fez, Morocco sightseeing trip was a hilltop with a magnificent view.
On this hilltop stood the Borj Nord fortress, built in the 16th century.
At the time, Portugal was attacking the Moroccan coast and had established numerous strongholds.
Fez, located inland, was also in danger of being attacked, so this fortress was built.
Assilah and Tangier, which we visited a few days earlier, were also towns under Portuguese rule.
However, it seems that Portugal, skilled in maritime trade, wasn’t particularly interested in the interior and never came to Fez.
And now, it’s an important tourist spot in Fez.
From here, you can get a great panoramic view of the medina.
You could clearly see the beige-coloured medina nestled in the valley.
The day we went, the weather was gloomy, with intermittent rain, which made the medina’s landscape look dull, but even so, the view was breathtaking.
When you look down on a town from a high vantage point, you can usually see straight streets and photograph the houses on either side with a telephoto lens, but the medina is a labyrinthine maze, so you can’t see the streets.
The area where our riad was located was slightly above the bottom of the valley, and apparently it was once an upscale residential area.
The area we walked through the day before was apparently a new souk (market) that had sprung up due to the increase in tourists, which is probably why it was relatively orderly.
After descending from there, we were taken to a pottery shop.
A salesperson from the shop took us around and we separated from our guide.
This person was rather vulgar, and I wasn’t interested in what he had to say.
However, it was somewhat interesting to learn that the beautiful tiles seen in every corner of the city are made by cutting out shapes and embedding them from the back.
This factory had absolutely no concept of health and safely; men were working at their respective stations in a chaotic space.
We saw them working while sitting on the floor despite the cold.
While we understood that manual labour is indeed hard work, the prices at the shop were outrageous by our standards, so we left quickly without buying anything.
