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.

В Фесе насчитываются десятки таких исторических зданий, и каждое носит имя ремесла, которому служило, — столяров, ювелиров, кожевников. Наше принадлежит ткачам льна.

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 ЮНЕСКО 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.