2 Best Sights in Fez and the Middle Atlas, Morocco

Seeing a Berber nucleus, the French established the Collège Berbère here in an attempt to train an elite Berber opposition to the urban Arab ruling class; both Arabic and Islam were prohibited. After independence, the movement faded. The Berber college became an Arabic school and was renamed the Lycée Tarik Ibn Ziad. It now teaches a progressive curriculum and hosts international exchange students.

One of the medina's finest medersas was built by the Merenids in the 14th century and named for the sahrij (pool) on which its patio is centered, with rich chocolate-color cedar wall carvings and some of the oldest zellij mosaic tiling in the country. It's still a working school, so head up the narrow steps leading to empty rooms over the central patio and you may hear the chanting of Koranic verses.