Fès 8.18

Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, with a population of 1.1 million .Fez was the capital city of modern Morocco until 1912 and is now the capital of the Fas-Meknas administrative region. The city has two old medina quarters, the larger of which is Fes el Bali. It is listed as a World Heritage Site and is believed to be one of the world's largest urban pedestrian zones . University of Al Quaraouiyine, founded in 859, is the oldest continuously functioning university in the world. The city has been called the "Mecca of the West" and the "Athens of Africa", a nickname it shares with Cyrene in Libya.HistoryEtymologyThe name Fas, Fez or Fes is probably an alteration of the Berber name Fazaz which was the name of the Moroccan region in which the city was built.During the rule of the Idrisid dynasty, Fez consisted of two cities: Fas Elbali, founded by Idris I, and al-ʿĀliyá, founded by his son, Idris II. During Idrisid rule the capital city was known as al-ʿĀliyá, with the name Fas being reserved for the separate site on the other side of the river; no Idrisid coins have been found with the name Fez, only al-ʿĀliyá and al-ʿĀliyá Madinat Idris. It is not known whether the name al-ʿĀliyá ever referred to both urban areas. It wasn't until 1070 that the two agglomerations were united and the name Fas was used for the combined site.