The sound and light of fez
Fez, visited by tourists from the world over, will now be even more famous than ever. A fantastic sound and light show will recount the glorious history of this imperial city which, from its founding, has glittered well beyond Morocco’s borders.
« I am in love with Fez. I’ve wandered ail the alleyways of its medina, drank at its marble fountains, visited its palaces and masques. l’ve gotten lost in its new city. l’ve returned to streets I had forgotten. And each time I’m there, l find the same happiness, the same serenity.
And thus ends one of the most elegant tributes ever paid to the city of Fez. But now there’s a new homage to this glorious metropolis, a sumptuous feast of colors, words, images, a fantastic voyage across time, 45 minutes of sound and light, a grandiose realization the fruit of imagination and cooperation of various individuals and groups, ail designed to enhance the preciousness of this spiritual capital.
The « Sounds and Lights of Fez » is a talented mix of the most sophisticated technology, quadrophony, sound surround, laser image projection, fabulous lighting of the city and laser effects in space and on the walls of Borj Sud. The show narrates in three-quarters of an hour the twelve centuries of one of the most prestigious cities in the world and in this explosion of colors and music, great Moroccan and foreign actors will deliver the text of Mohamed Tari and Jacques Cagne.
« Tell me first … Why the name of Fez? Some people believe that the name comes from the Berber word ‘Asif » which means river. But there are other legends. The one I prefer is that of the golden pick-ax which ‘Fas’ in Arabic is. The workers building the city gave Idriss 1 a golden pick-ax as an offering and he named the city thus. »
Fez, the capital of the Idrissi sultans, was the center of Muslim civilization, a veritable crossroads of people, traditions and experiences. To Fez came the Andalusians from Cordoba, the Kairouanais, the Berbers and there they made a harmonious blend of their cultures and knowledge. From its creation, Fez was a city of exchanges, cultural and commercial, a haven of tolerance, a place of meditation and spirituality. In the heart of the Karaouyine Mosque, in one of the oldest Koranic theological schools in the world founded by Fatima Bent Mohamed El Fihri, studied theologians, wise men, doctors, philosophers and historians from around the world. The Almohad dynasty not only gave the city its monumental gates, but also increased its places of prayer, its tanneries, dyeing shops and public ovens. The caravans brought the most beautiful goods from ail over the world. Despite these glorious predecessors and their stunning achievements, it was under the Merinid sultans who chose Fez as their capital that the city reached its zenith.
Open to ail intellectual movements, the Merinids adorned the city, and founded so many Koranic schools that the city’s already stellar spiritual reputation soared even higher. Libraries filled with precious manuscripts abounded. Fez was also a city of refinements where stunning creations of wool, wood, silk; iron and even earth were produced. For all time, the city has brought together the best artisans of the country and even today Fassi artists continue their splendid work in such important monuments as the Great Hassan II Mosque.
« Independence … the magical Arabic word of ‘Istiqlal.’ » Even though Fez has faced difficult times over the course of its long history, it still remains the acknowledged center of learning for the country. Fez has also been a place of resistance, for within its walls the independence movement was thought out. In Fez, as in the other cities of the nation, the resistance movement against French colonialism was organized. In the universities, students began to gather round the great notables of this struggle and many of the leaders were from Fez such as Allal El Fassi. It was in Fez du ring the night of August 19, 1975, that King Hassan II had the brilliant idea of the « Green March, » a pacifist march for ail Moroccans, whose goal was to take back the Sahara provinces occupied by the Spanish. It was a glorious page in Moroccan history, an epoch without violence in which 350,000 volunteers from all over the realm, more than 15,000 from fez, joined in this peaceful fight. Fez with its shops, its scents, its Oriental and Andalusian music; Fez with its tangled streets hiding magnificent palaces; Fez with its universal heritage; ifs a city worth celebrating, the very name calling forth ail of humanity.