Fez

FasIdrisid/Marinid/Alaouite Morocco · 808-1912French protectorate · 1912-1956Morocco · 1956-present

Fas - the spiritual capital of Moroccan Jewry: Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (the Rif), Maimonides' refuge years, Morocco's first mellah (1438), and the 1912 Tritl pogrom; restored synagogues and the mellah anchor its memory.

Modern locality anchor

Fez

Morocco · City · 34.0°N 5.0°W

This anchor orients the sourced locality record. It is not a reconstructed historical position or border; the single map below provides geographic context.

View location

Where is Fez?

Land geometry: Natural Earth 1:50m via world-atlas. Pins mark modern localities or representative regional anchors stored on Atlas place records, not historical borders and not reconstructed positions. · Sources & methods

THE COMMUNITY TIMELINE · EVERY NODE DATED

What happened to the Jewish community of Fez?

800–1148

Founding-era community; Rif era (11th c.)

1438–1912

Mellah established (first in Morocco)

1912–1956

1912 Tritl pogrom (~45 killed); French protectorate

1948–present

Exodus to Israel (1948-60s); vestigial community

Today

Vestigial community; restored synagogues and mellah heritage.

LANGUAGES & COMMUNITY

What did Fez sound like?

Fez Jewish Community

Judeo-ArabicHebrew (עברית, Ivrit)Judeo-Berber (Judeo-Amazigh)

Judeo-Arabic is a language with its own grammar, literature, and history — not “broken” anything, and not a dialect of Hebrew.

AFTER · IN FULL COLOR

What survives today?

In Fez

Vestigial community; restored synagogues and mellah heritage.

Ibn Danan Synagogue
synagogue · public landmark
17th century.
Slat al-Fassiyin Synagogue
synagogue · public landmark
Restored.
Mellah and Jewish cemetery
historic quarter and cemetery · historic site

In Israel & the diaspora

The community's story continued elsewhere — these places carry it now.

In memory

Texts and figures that carry Fez forward.

Maimonides — Rambam (1138–1204)

KEEP GOING

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SOURCES & REVIEW

Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2nd ed. (place entry)
Macmillan Reference USA · 2007
Morocco - Virtual Jewish History Tour
Jewish Virtual Library · open source
Communities Database
JewishGen · open source

Reviewed 2026-07-30

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