Fez

The oldest of Morocco's imperial cities and its spiritual capital, whose old medina, Fes el-Bali, is often called the largest car-free urban area on earth. Down its sloping lanes stand the oldest continuously operating university in the world, madrasas of dizzying carved ornament, a founder-saint's shrine and tanneries working as they have for centuries. Beside it lie the royal city of Fes Jdid and one of Morocco's oldest Jewish quarters. Read the medieval maze and the imperial city, at your own pace.