FèsPrayer Times in Fès, Wilaya de Fes

Fez was founded by the Idrisid dynasty in the late eighth and early ninth centuries CE and became the principal religious and intellectual capital of Morocco. The al-Qarawiyyin Mosque, established in 859 CE by Fatima al-Fihri and substantially expanded under the Almoravids in the twelfth century, is among the oldest continuously operating institutions of higher learning in the world; it taught generations of Maliki jurists, including for a time the historian Ibn Khaldun. The Andalusiyyin Mosque, founded in the same generation by al-Fihri's sister Maryam, anchors the eastern bank of the Fez river. The fourteenth-century Marinid madrasas — Bou Inania, Attarine, and Sahrij — are masterpieces of carved cedar, stucco, and zellige tile representing the high point of Maghribi-Andalusi religious architecture. Fez today retains an active al-Qarawiyyin, multiple Sufi tariqa houses including the Tijaniyya, and a deeply observant traditional mosque culture in its UNESCO-protected medina.