Fondouk Kettanine

Before hotels existed, Fès had fondouks. These merchant inns were the beating heart of the old Medina: a courtyard below for goods and animals, galleries of rooms above for the traders who arrived with caravans from across Morocco and beyond. Around their fountains, deals were struck, stories were exchanged, and travellers from distant cities shared a meal after weeks on the road.

フェズにはこうした歴史的建造物が数十棟あり、それぞれがかつて仕えた商いの名を冠しています——木工職人、金細工師、なめし革職人。私たちの建物は、麻織物職人のものでした。

Fondouk Kettanine — also known as Fondouk Jdid, "the new fondouk" — was built in the late 19th century, during the reign of Sultan Moulay Hassan I, to lodge the merchants visiting the city. It stands in Al Qatanin, the historic quarter of the cotton and linen traders, whose craft the fondouk's name still carries: kettan means linen. In 1981, the entire Medina of Fès — the fondouk among its living monuments — was inscribed as a ユネスコ World Heritage Site.

"Guests have arrived here for more than a century. Now, we cook for them."

Today, this monument welcomes travellers once again. We restored its rooftop with respect for the building's soul — zellige, cedar and carved plaster — and turned the terrace above the old courtyard into Fez Medina Rooftop Restaurant & Lounge. When you dine with us, you're not just visiting a restaurant: you're continuing a story that began more than a century ago.