Cherratine Madrasa, Religious school in Fes El Bali, Morocco
Cherratine Madrasa is a religious school in Fez's old medina with a central courtyard featuring a marble fountain, surrounded by galleries and student sleeping rooms on upper floors. The building holds around 130 to 150 dormitory rooms arranged around several small courtyards and linked by multi-story galleries.
The building was constructed in 1670 by Sultan Moulay al-Rashid to replace an earlier madrasa called el-Lebbadin. It gained protected monument status in 1917 and is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage site.
The name Cherratine comes from a nearby market where rope makers once worked, showing how craft trades and schools were woven together in Fez's medina. Today you can still see the narrow streets around it where such trades once happened daily.
The school sits deep in the winding lanes of the old medina and can be tricky to find, so follow signs or ask locals for directions. Morning visits work best when the medina is less crowded and light fills the courtyards better.
Unlike earlier madrasas, this building used several small courtyards instead of one large one, which made the layout more efficient for housing and teaching many students. This arrangement created separate zones for different groups, giving daily life more structure.
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