Fez is the second or third largest city of Morocco, with a population of 1.1 million (2014).

Fez was the capital of modern Morocco until 1925, and is now the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. The city has two old medinas, the larger of which is Fes el Bali.
It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is believed to be one of the world’s largest car-free urban areas. Al-Qarawiyyin, founded in AD 859, is the oldest continuously functioning madrasa in the world. The city has been called the “Mecca of the West” and the “Athens of Africa”.