Bab Bou Jeloud (Blue Gate)

Bab Bou Jeloud, known as the Blue Gate, is the main western entrance to Fès el-Bali, the walled medina of Fès in Morocco's Fès-Meknès region. The gate dates from 1913, during the early French Protectorate, and was built in a Moorish style rather than as a defensive work. Its outer face is covered in blue zellige tile, the traditional colour of Fès, while the inner face is green, the colour associated with Islam. Calligraphic panels and horseshoe arches frame the three openings, and the minaret of the Bou Jeloud mosque rises just beyond. Visitors arriving from the Batha area or the Ville Nouvelle by petit taxi are usually dropped at the square outside the gate, which then serves as the starting point for the two main medina lanes, Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira. Passing through the arch, the street noise changes immediately, with food stalls, juice sellers and cafés lining the first stretch. The square in front is the best place to photograph the gate: the blue face is best seen from the plaza side in morning light, while the green inside face catches warm light late in the day. After dark the gate is lit and the terrace cafés fill, which is when the area is at its liveliest and most crowded, roughly from 17:00 to 23:00. Early morning is calmer, with shopkeepers opening shutters and few tour groups. Most visitors spend 30 to 60 minutes here, either photographing the gate and having mint tea on a café terrace or simply using it as the orientation point before heading deeper into the medina. There is no entry fee and no ticketing, and the area is open at all hours. Small-scale guides often wait near the gate offering tours of the medina; fees should be agreed before setting out, and the official guide badge is worth checking. The gate sits at the lower end of the medina's downhill lanes, so the walk back up to the square at the end of a long day is the steepest part of the return.