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Fes and the Hill of the Forgotten Kings: A Journey to The Marinid Tombs Fes
Let’s be honest about Fes. You come for the medina. To get lost in a thousand-year-old maze, to be hypnotized by the dyers’ vats, to smell cedarwood, cumin, and donkey. It’s intense, incredible, and totally absorbing. But after a day or two of that beautiful chaos, your soul might need a little space. A little air. A view that lets you see the whole glorious, complicated puzzle from above, rather than being stuck inside one of its pieces.
That’s where you’ll find yourself climbing a dusty hill on the north side of the city, past scraggly trees and wandering goats, towards a silent cluster of stone boxes that have been crumbling under the sun for 700 years. Welcome to the Marinid Tombs. This isn’t a polished museum exhibit. There are no ticket booths, no uniformed guides, no souvenir shops selling postcards. This is a place of ghosts, wind, and the most breathtaking panorama in all of Morocco.
I’ll be direct: you don’t come here for the architecture. At least, not what’s left of it. You come for the perspective. Literally and figuratively. This hill is where you finally understand Fes.
A Crash Course on the Dynasty That Built Imperial Fes
To understand why this place matters, you have to rewind. Before the famous Saadians in Marrakech, before the Alaouites who rule today, there were the Marinids. A Berber tribe from the eastern deserts that rolled into town in the 13th century and decided to make Fes its capital. For nearly two hundred years, they were the big bosses.
Their achievements? They expanded and beautified the old medina, Fes el-Bali. Above all, they built an entirely new royal city right next to it: Fes el-Jdid (“New Fes”). That’s where you still find the vast Royal Palace with its golden doors, the old Mellah (Jewish quarter), and the large gardens. These sultans were great builders, but also great warriors and shrewd theologians. They established medersas those sumptuously decorated Quranic schools like the sublime Bou Inania to attract scholars and solidify their religious power. Fes was then the intellectual and spiritual center of the Maghreb, a kind of medieval Oxford under the African sun.
And like all the powerful, they had to think about eternity. They chose for their eternal rest not a discreet crypt, but this strategic hill dominating both Feses: the old and the new. From here, their souls could watch over their legacy for centuries to come. The tombs you see, or what remains of them, date from the 13th and 14th centuries. It wasn’t just a simple mausoleum, but a complete royal necropolis.
The State of Affairs: A Beauty in Ruins
Today, the tombs are in a state of sublime decrepitude. Imagine large cubes and rectangles of ochre stone, some still standing, others collapsed. The roofs are gone. The walls bear the scars of time and weather. There’s no trace left of the colorful tiles (zellij) or carved plaster that must have once adorned them. All ornamentation has been looted, eroded, or returned to dust.
And that’s precisely what’s powerful. In total contrast to the profusion of detail and life in the medina below, a solemn austerity reigns here. You walk among stone skeletons. You can touch the same blocks that the hands of Marinid artisans carved. There are no barriers, no velvet ropes. It’s raw, real, and a little melancholic. It reminds you that all empires, even the most glorious, eventually crack and return to the earth. Look down: the medina, however, is still alive, noisy, eternal. The lesson is silent but clear.
The Real Treasure: The View That Explains Everything
But let’s talk about the real reason for the climb: the view. It’s a spectacle that takes your breath away and stays etched in your memory.
From the promontory of the tombs, Fes spreads out at your feet like a living relief map.
- Fes el-Bali: That tumultuous sea of white and ochre houses, so dense it seems they’re holding each other up to avoid collapse. Your eyes follow the labyrinth, trying in vain to trace the path you took this morning. You spot the great square minarets piercing the urban canopy: the vivid green of the Al Quaraouiyine Mosque, the spiritual heart of the city; the green and white minaret of the Moulay Idriss Mosque, sanctuary of the founder. Between them, an infinity of alleyways where millions of lives play out.
- Fes el-Jdid: More orderly, with its long walls, the roofs of the Royal Palace, and the lines of the Mellah.
- The Hills Beyond: On a clear day, you see the green foothills of the Middle Atlas framing it all.
The magical moment is undoubtedly sunset. Around 5-6 PM (depending on the season), a free natural show begins. The warm light of the setting sun ignites the tomb stones into a burning orange. Then, it caresses the medina, turning white walls to gold, lengthening the shadows of the minarets. And then, it starts: the evening call to prayer.
It doesn’t come from a single loudspeaker, but from dozens of mosques below. It’s a call to prayer in stereo, in echo, rising slowly from the city up to you on the hill. First one muezzin begins the chant, then another, farther away, answers, then a third, until the entire city seems to sing in unison. It’s a moment of spiritual and sensory beauty that gives you chills. You stay silent. You listen. You watch. That’s the reward.
A Practical, No-Filter Guide for Your Visit
- How to Get Up? (The Most Important Info)
Very important. Do NOT try to walk up directly from the medina. The path is long, steep, poorly marked, and goes through poor peripheral areas where you could feel very uncomfortable, be followed, or harassed. The two good methods:- The Local Petit Taxi (The Classic):
- Hail a beige petit taxi anywhere in the city.
- Say “Tombeaux Mérinides” or “View over the medina.” All drivers know it.
- Negotiate a ROUND-TRIP price with waiting. This is crucial. Say clearly: “Round trip, you wait for me 30 minutes, how much?“
- A fair and correct price is between 50 and 80 Dirhams (€5-8) for the whole service. Be firm.
- Pro tip: Pay at the end, once back at your starting point. The driver will drop you on the small dirt parking lot at the foot of the ruins and wait. It’s safe, simple, and worth every penny.
- The Pre-Booked Private Transfer (For Total Peace of Mind):
If you don’t feel like haggling, especially after a long day in the medina, or if you’re a small group, the best option is to book a private transfer in advance. A professional driver meets you at your riad or hotel, drives you directly to the site, explains what to see, and waits as long as needed. The price is fixed in euros in advance, there are no bad surprises, no negotiation. It’s the superior comfort level.
>> To book a stress-free private transfer with an English/French-speaking driver in Fes, you can check the options and fixed prices here: https://kiwitaxi.tp.st/hsgRLLXj
- The Local Petit Taxi (The Classic):
- When to Go?
Late afternoon. No hesitation. Plan to arrive about 1.5 hours before the official sunset time. This gives you time to explore the ruins in beautiful light, then witness the golden transformation and the call to prayer. - How Long?
30 to 45 minutes is largely enough. It’s sufficient to walk around the ruins, take photos from all angles, and sit to contemplate the view. - Cost:
Access to the site is free. You only pay for transport. - What to Wear/Bring:
- Closed, stable shoes. The terrain is rocky, uneven, with dry grass.
- A water bottle. There are no vendors on the hill.
- A light sweater or jacket in the evening, even in summer. There can be a cool, persistent wind on the heights.
- Your camera with a charged battery. Obviously.
- Safety:
The site itself is very frequented by tourists and young locals from Fes who come to enjoy the view, especially on weekends. It is safe. Just keep your personal belongings secure as always, and watch your step among the stones.
What to See Nearby? The Unexpected Bonus
Right at the top of the hill, adjoining the tombs, stands the Borj Nord. It’s a huge fortress with thick walls, built in the 16th century by the Saadians (the successors of the Marinids) to watch over the city… with cannons. Today, it houses the Fes Arms Museum.
This is a fascinating and often overlooked visit. Inside, in vaulted, dark rooms worthy of a castle keep, you’ll find an incredible collection of weapons from around the world: richly decorated Moroccan and Ottoman swords, crystal-handled daggers, mother-of-pearl inlaid flintlock pistols, armor, and even giant Spanish cannons. This stands in striking contrast to the spirituality of the tombs and offers another, more warlike, side of Fes’s tumultuous history. Entry is symbolic (about 20 DH) and is really worth the detour if you have a little extra time.
The Photographer’s Tip
For the perfect “postcard” photo:
- Position yourself with your back to the ruins, using an arch or a collapsed stone pillar to the side to naturally frame the city below.
- Use a wide-angle lens to capture the immensity.
- Wait for a cloud to pass to add drama to the sky.
- At sunset, don’t overexpose. Lower the brightness slightly to let the shadows deepen and for the first lights in the medina windows to turn on like terrestrial stars.
Conclusion: More Than Just a “Visit”
Going to the Marinid Tombs isn’t about ticking a tourist box. It’s a rite of passage in Fes. It’s about gaining perspective, in the literal sense. After the total, sensory, and sometimes dizzying immersion of the medina, it’s the moment when you step back, when you digest. When you realize the scale of what you’re exploring.
It’s a place that speaks of mortality and permanence. The kings are gone, their palaces forgotten, their tombs in ruin. But down below, the life they governed continues, unchanged in its essential rhythm: craftsmanship, trade, prayer, shared tea.
Take a taxi (or better, organize a tranquil transfer), climb the hill, touch the warm stone, and look. Let Fes tell you its longest story, without a word. It’s a gift from the old sultans from their eternal perch. Nowhere else will you understand this city so well. It’s essential.
