![Canal Medina Fez Morocco 100817 (49684330503)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Canal_Medina_Fez_Morocco_100817_%2849684330503%29.jpg)
The Oued Fes () or Fez River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
in
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. It is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...
of the
Sebou River
Sebou (Berber language, Berber: Asif en Sbu, ar, سبو) is a river in northern Morocco. At its source in the Middle Atlas mountains it is known as the Guigou River (Berber: Asif n Gigu). The river is 496 kilometers long and has an average wat ...
and historically the main source of water for the city of
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
, after which it is named.
The river consists of a number of different
streams
A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...
which originate in the Saïss Plain to the south and west of Fes before joining together in the area of
Fes el-Bali, the old city (
medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
) of Fes.
Over the centuries the river has been split and diverted into a multitude of
canals
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or river engineering, engineered channel (geography), channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport watercraft, vehicles (e.g. ...
that distributed water across the city and once powered a number of historic
waterwheels.
These various water channels converge into the Oued Bou Khrareb which runs through the middle of the old city and historically divided the ''Qarawiyyin'' and ''Andalusiyyin'' quarters.
After the river leaves the city it runs eastwards for a short distance before joining the Sebou River. The various branches and sections of the river, including many of the man-made canals, also have their own names.
Description of the river
Source
The river begins at Ras al-Ma ("Head of the Water"), 12
kilometres
The kilometre ( SI symbol: km; or ), spelt kilometer in American English, is a unit of length in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand metres (kilo- being the SI prefix for ). It is now the measurement unit used for ...
southwest of the city, from a hollow of
lacustrine
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, with an approximate
flow of 500
litres
The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...
/second.
Oued al-Jawahir
The main branch of the river skirts the northern edge of the
Royal Palace
This is a list of royal palaces, sorted by continent.
Africa
* Abdin Palace, Cairo
* Al-Gawhara Palace, Cairo
* Koubbeh Palace, Cairo
* Tahra Palace, Cairo
* Menelik Palace
* Jubilee Palace
* Guenete Leul Palace
* Imperial Palace- Massa ...
grounds (the ''Dar al-Makhzen'') and of
Fes el-Jdid before entering
Fes el-Bali. This section is also known as the ''Oued al-Jawahir'' ().
It once passed through a flat area of marshes and
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
located near what is now Fes el-Jdid and the modern ''Ville Nouvelle'', before emerging at a number places.
However, since the founding of Fes el-Jdid (13th century), the Oued al-Jawahir was progressively diverted and some of its old streams seem to have disappeared.
The river's flow was re-engineered to provide water for the Royal Palace complex and a succession of royal gardens such as the
Mosara Gardens of the
Marinids
The Marinid Sultanate was a Berber Muslim empire from the mid-13th to the 15th century which controlled present-day Morocco and, intermittently, other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian Peninsula (Spain) ar ...
(now disappeared) and the 19th-century
Jnan Sbil Gardens
The Jnan Sbil Gardens (; also spelled Jnane Sbile from the French transliteration), also known as the Bou Jeloud Gardens, is public garden in Fez, Morocco, located between Fes el-Jdid and Fes el-Bali, the two sections of the old medina.
Hist ...
(still extant), before continuing towards Fes el-Bali, where it is distributed across an extensive network of man-made streams and canals which end up at the Oued Bou Khrareb.
Oued Bou Khrareb
''Oued Bou Khrareb'' (or sometimes ''Oued el-Kbir'') is the usual name given to the main urban course of the river through the middle of Fes el-Bali.
This river is initially fed by two other streams called the ''Oued ez-Zitoun'' and the ''Oued Bou Fekran'' that enter the city from the south at
Bab Jdid.
It is also fed by the various canals that split off from the Oued al-Jawahir to supply the city before eventually ending up in this ravine in the middle of the city. As the lowest point in the medina, the river thus acts as a collector for the city's used water.
The course of the Bou Khrareb also forms the historical boundary between the
Qarawiyyin
The University of al-Qarawiyyin ( ar, جامعة القرويين; ber, ⵜⴰⵙⴷⴰⵡⵉⵜ ⵏ ⵍⵇⴰⵕⴰⵡⵉⵢⵉⵏ; french: Université Al Quaraouiyine), also written Al-Karaouine or Al Quaraouiyine, is a university located in ...
and
Andalus quarters of the city, which were originally two separate cities (''al-'Aliya'' and ''Madinat Fas'') in their early history before being joined together by the
Almoravids
The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
in the 11th century.
Much of the Oued Bou Khrareb's course, from Bab Jdid to
Place R'cif, is now hidden beneath a modern road for car traffic (one of the few that penetrates the medina). The road covers the river up to Place R'cif, a large square at the heart of the medina, and the river reemerges on the north side of square.
From there the river runs northeast and exits the city between
Bab Guissa
Bab Guissa or Bab Gisa ( or ) is the main northwestern gate of Fes el Bali, the old walled city of Fes, Morocco.
History
A gate by this name had existed in this part of the city walls since at least the 11th century. That gate was named after ...
and the former gate of Bab Sidi Bou Jida.
The historic water network of Fez
![Oued Fes east of old mechouar (crop)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Oued_Fes_east_of_old_mechouar_%28crop%29.png)
Fes el-Bali has had access to plentiful water since its foundation.
The current outlines of its water supply system were begun by the
Zenata
The Zenata (Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Etymology
''Iznaten (ⵉ ...
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
Dunas ibn Hamama between 1037 and 1049 and then further elaborated by the
Almoravid
The Almoravid dynasty ( ar, المرابطون, translit=Al-Murābiṭūn, lit=those from the ribats) was an imperial Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire in the 11th century that ...
emir
Yusuf ibn Tashfin
Yusuf ibn Tashfin, also Tashafin, Teshufin, ( ar, يوسف بن تاشفين ناصر الدين بن تالاكاكين الصنهاجي , Yūsuf ibn Tāshfīn Naṣr al-Dīn ibn Tālākakīn al-Ṣanhājī ; reigned c. 1061 – 1106) was l ...
between 1069 (the Almoravid conquest of Fes) and 1106.
From the west, the Oued al-Jawahir flows eastward along the northern edge of Fes el-Jdid, passing through the
Bab Bou Jat Mechouar, through the
Dar al-Makina The Dar al-Makina () is a former arms factory in Fes, Morocco.
History
The Dar al-Makina (an Arabic adaptation of the word "machine") was established by Sultan Moulay Hassan in 1885–86 with the help of Italian officers. The northern gate of ...
(a former arms factory), and then beneath the
Old Mechouar near
Bab Dekkakin
Bab Dekkakin or Bab Dekakene () is a fortified and ceremonial gate in Fes, Morocco. The gate is situated between the Old Mechouar (or ''Vieux Méchouar'') and the New Mechouar (or ''Nouveau Méchouar'') on the northern edge of Fes el-Jdid. ...
before re-emerging on its eastern side, on the edge of the Jnan Sbil Gardens. Here it emerges from four arched openings at the bottom of the Old Mechouar's
ramparts and the first major man-made division of the river take place.
This division creates a number of canals (most of them subterranean) through Fes el-Bali which eventually spill back into the Oued Bou Khrareb (the name of the river's main course inside the city).
There are four main historic canal divisions: the ''Oued Fejjalin'', the ''Oued el-Hamiya'', the ''Sakiyyat el-Abbasa'', and the ''Oued Shrashar''.
Most of these then split off into other canals as they progress through the city. Within each network, water channels that supplied water for drinking and washing were kept separate from those that were used to evacuate waste.
The Oued Fejjalin is one of the most important divisions. It passes through the north part of the Jnan Sbil Gardens and through the
Dar al-Beida Palace, before splitting into more branches. One branch goes south but has mostly disappeared today. The other, the ''Oued el-Lemtiyyin,'' continues northeastwards toward the Bou Jeloud area and supplied the northern parts of the city.
Just after it enters the city walls, the water of the ''Oued el-Lemtiyyin'' is collected by a large distributor structure located adjacent to the south side of
Bab Bou Jeloud gate.
The structure is made of brick and
rammed earth
Rammed earth is a technique for constructing foundations, floors, and walls using compacted natural raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime, or gravel. It is an ancient method that has been revived recently as a sustainable building method.
...
. It originally dates from the Almoravid period,
although the wall on its west side is part of the Almohad
city walls and some hydraulic features likely underwent modifications over the years as the city developed or the agreements regulating water distribution changed.
It has three arched openings that lead into vaulted chambers under the wall from which the water then emerges on the other side into three open-air channels or "zones", located at different elevations. The middle zone consists of a large reservoir that feeds water into three underground canals on its eastern side. The two other zones, located on higher ground on either side of this, received lesser amounts of water but were more complex, consisting of multiple small basins and channels that regulated the distribution into local neighbourhoods. The differences in the depth and elevation of the different reservoirs and channels reflected the institutionalized water agreements under which certain neighbourhoods or buildings had priority access to water, while other sites, with less priority, only received it when the water level was high enough to reach the channels and reservoirs located at higher elevations. The water entering into the distributor was also slowed and diverted by small dams and
settling basins, as well as by the various reservoirs themselves, which thus also served as a rudimentary
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...
system by catching and filtering garbage and other physical pollution. From this distributor, the water then spread through various underground canals across the neighbourhoods located downstream, starting with those in the
Tala'a Kebira
Tala'a Kebira (alternate spellings include ''Talaa Kbira'', ''Tala'a al-Kbira'', etc) (, 'the Great Slope/Climb') is one of the longest and most important streets in Fes el-Bali, the old city (medina) of Fes, Morocco. The street runs roughly eas ...
and Tala'a Seghira areas. One of the canals still passes through courtyard of the
Bou Inania Madrasa
The Madrasa Bou Inania (; ) is a madrasa in Fes, Morocco, built in 1350–55 CE by Abu Inan Faris. It is the only madrasa in Morocco which also functioned as a congregational mosque. It is widely acknowledged as a high point of Marinid archi ...
today. Other distributor structures, of smaller size and complexity, were located throughout this network and other networks in order to further regulate water distribution.
As for the Oued el-Hamiya, it splits from the other major branches at Jnan Sbil before dividing into more branches which mostly supply the southern parts of the city.
One of its branches also once supplied, via an aqueduct, the
Andalus quarter on the opposite shore of the Bou Khrareb river.
The two last branches, Sakiyyat al-Abbasa and the Oued Shrashar, supplied the regions near
Bab al-Hadid and the gardens between Fes el-Jdid and Fes el-Bali.
In addition to this western network of canals coming from the Oued al-Jawahir, the streams to the south of the city (which also formed the beginning of the Bou Khrareb River) fed an entirely separate but important canal called the ''Oued Masmuda''.
This canal, further east, supplied water for most of the Andalus quarter of Fes on the southeast side of the Bou Khrareb river.
It begins to the south of the city and passed through the old city walls through a
culvert
A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...
opening called ''Bab ash-Shobbak'' ("Gate of the Window") which was protected by an iron
grille
Grill or grille may refer to:
Food
* Barbecue grill, a device or surface used for cooking food, usually fuelled by gas or charcoal, or the part of a cooker that performs this function
* Flattop grill, a cooking device often used in restaurants, ...
.
A few other canals split from it as it wound its way through the district, until it finally rejoined the Bou Khrareb river shortly before its exit from the city.
The canal appears to be named after the
Masmuda
The Masmuda ( ar, المصمودة, Berber: ⵉⵎⵙⵎⵓⴷⵏ) is a Berber tribal confederation of Morocco and one of the largest in the Maghreb, along with the Zanata and the Sanhaja. They were composed of several sub-tribes: Berghouat ...
Berber tribal confederacy that founded the
Almohad movement, which suggests that it might have been constructed by the Almohads or that Masmuda families or troops were housed near it at some point.
![Noria in fes DSCF2893](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Noria_in_fes_DSCF2893.jpg)
Many of these historic canals are now underground, with only some ancient
toponyms
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
hinting at former bridges that passed over them (e.g. the name ''Qantrat Bou Rous'' along a part of
Tala'a Kebira
Tala'a Kebira (alternate spellings include ''Talaa Kbira'', ''Tala'a al-Kbira'', etc) (, 'the Great Slope/Climb') is one of the longest and most important streets in Fes el-Bali, the old city (medina) of Fes, Morocco. The street runs roughly eas ...
).
These canals and streams also feed a number of industries such as the historic
tanneries
Tanning may refer to:
*Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather
*Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin
**Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun
**Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...
of the city, the most famous of which are the
Chouara Tanneries.
A large number of
waterwheels (known as ''
noria
A noria ( ar, ناعورة, ''nā‘ūra'', plural ''nawāʿīr'', from syr, ܢܥܘܪܐ, ''nā‘orā'', lit. "growler") is a hydropowered '' scoop wheel'' used to lift water into a small aqueduct, either for the purpose of irrigation or to s ...
''s or sometimes as ''saqiyya''s) were located throughout the city's water network in order to assist in water distribution or to power certain industries.
Some of these were very large, such as the huge noria which supplied the Marinid royal gardens of
Mosara, measuring 26 meters in diameter and 2 meters in thickness.
Only a few of these waterwheels have survived in some form, including some examples around the Jnan Sbil Gardens.
Historic bridges over the Oued Bou Khrareb
![Pont - Pont sur l'oued Fès - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T089238](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Pont_-_Pont_sur_l%27oued_F%C3%A8s_-_F%C3%A8s_-_M%C3%A9diath%C3%A8que_de_l%27architecture_et_du_patrimoine_-_AP62T089238.jpg)
The Oued Bou Khrareb is crossed by several historic bridges inside the medina, some of which were first built before the unification of the two shores into a single city in the 11th century.
There were once at least six bridges, reportedly built by the
Zenata
The Zenata (Berber language: Iznaten) are a group of Amazigh (Berber) tribes, historically one of the largest Berber confederations along with the Sanhaja and Masmuda. Their lifestyle was either nomadic or semi-nomadic.
Etymology
''Iznaten (ⵉ ...
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
Dunas ibn Hamama in the early 11th century, before the unification of the two cities by the Almoravids later in the same century.
Other scholarly sources, however, attribute at least some of the bridges to the Almoravid period (late 11th to early 12th centuries) when the two early cities of Fes were unified.
Many of them were destroyed in subsequent floods in the early 14th century, and only some of them were rebuilt by the Marinid Sultan
Abu Sa'id at the time.
Of the bridges that remain today, the ''Qantra Bin el-Moudoun'' ("Bridge Between the Two Cities") is the northernmost of them, followed to the south by the ''Qantrat Sebbaghin'' ("Bridge of the Tanners") and by the ''Qantrat Terrafin'' ("Bridge of the Cobblers") just north of Place R'cif. Another bridge, the Bridge of Sidi al-'Awwad, was located further south but likely disappeared during the 20th century when the river was covered by the modern paved road.
The Bin el-Moudoun Bridge, believed to date from the time of Emir Dunas ibn Hamama, was considered one of the most picturesque, being located amidst a stretch of rocky
rapids
Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence.
Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...
.
It has a span composed of three arches but only the central one is still visible today.
The Sebbaghin Bridge, also known as the ''Khrashfiyin'' Bridge (or ''Khrachfiyine'' in the
French transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
), is believed to have been originally built by Emir Dunas and restored or rebuilt by the Marinids in the 14th century.
The Terrafin bridge, originally named ''Qantrat Bab al-Silsila'' and now found on the northern edge of Place R'cif, is also believed to date initially from Emir Dunas in the 11th century.
It is notable for having been lined with shops on both sides, a feature still partly visible in its structure today.
Pollution problems and rehabilitation efforts
![Fes, Old city](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Fes%2C_Old_city.jpg)
The river, particularly the Oued Bou Khrareb within the old medina, has long suffered from heavy pollution due to
sewage
Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged from residenc ...
, the activities of the nearby tanneries (which generate chemical waste), and to being sometimes used as a dumping ground by residents.
Even the name Oued Bou Khrareb means "River of Filth".
The increase in pollution in modern times led to locals building walls and concrete barriers to block out the smell of the river, and more recently the city authorities had begun covering the exposed parts of the river with concrete slabs, which only led to more garbage piling up on top of this.
The waste of the tanning industry and other activities also led to toxic chemicals, particularly high levels of
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...
, accumulating in the soil and the water.
Although it is believed that this does not affect the city's drinking water (which comes from upstream), it creates problems for sites downstream along the Sebou River following its confluence with the Oued Fes.
In the late 2000s, a large-scale project to rehabilitate the river system and its urban environment was begun. The project, led by architect
Aziza Chaouni
Aziza Chaouni (Arabic; عزيزة شاؤني) is a Moroccan architect who teaches at the University of Toronto.
Detail
She is the founder of Aziza Chaouni Projects and associate professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landsca ...
, included the cleaning up of the river, the renovation of its urban shoreline, the creation of open pedestrian walkways, and the renovation of existing open spaces along the river such Place R'cif and Place Lalla Yeddouna.
The proposal to improve water quality also included the creation of wetlands (which had previously existed along the river's course) and the restoration of the river's canals.
At one point the project had also proposed to end or curtail the operations of the
Chouara Tanneries and relocate the tanning industry elsewhere where its pollution could be managed more safely, but in the end the tanneries were restored and left in place.
The rehabilitation of the river, which has been underway since, also took place alongside broader efforts to restore the historical monuments and landmarks of the old city, mostly under the direction of the local heritage restoration agency ADER-Fes. This included the restoration of the bridges over the Bou Khrareb river, with the Terrafin and Sebbaghin/Khrashfiyin bridges being restored in the 2010s.
References
{{coord, 34.07749, -4.92497, format=dms, type:river_region:MA, display=title
Fes
Fez or Fes (; ar, فاس, fās; zgh, ⴼⵉⵣⴰⵣ, fizaz; french: Fès) is a city in northern inland Morocco and the capital of the Fès-Meknès administrative region. It is the second largest city in Morocco, with a population of 1.11 mi ...
category:Fez, Morocco