The Idrisids: a new chapter in the map of cities
Volubilis leads towards Idris I and Fez towards a city growing on two riverbanks. Read the formation of new political and urban centres alongside continuing relationships with land and earlier routes.
A photograph of a place surviving today, not a reconstruction of the period.
A political centre and urban life
The Volubilis record connects the site with Idris I, while the Fez record describes the city’s beginnings in the Idrisid period. Together they place the dynasty within late eighth-century changes without reducing all Moroccan history to a ruling family.
A city brings together needs for housing, water, work, movement, learning and worship. This chapter therefore follows Fez as well as rulers’ names.
The accompanying Bab Bou Jeloud photograph is contemporary. The visible gate is not evidence of eighth-century Fez, but a visual entrance to a city with centuries of building and change after its Idrisid beginnings.
In later chapters, centres of power shift and connections with the Sahara and al-Andalus expand. Yet a city does not vanish between dynasties: traces accumulate while neighbourhoods and crafts continue making everyday history.
Story sources: UNESCOStory sources
Sources reviewed:
- Archaeological Site of VolubilisUNESCO
- Medina of FezUNESCO
