Ibn Danan Synagogue

Ibn Danan Synagogue tickets and tours: which one to book

No ticket for the Ibn Danan Synagogue alone is sold online. The building is cared for by a caretaker who opens the door to visitors and collects a modest entry fee in cash; a small tip for an explanation of the interior is appreciated. Visits are informal, there are no timed slots, and you simply knock or wait at the door in the Mellah if it is closed. Many visitors come with a guide. Licensed guides in Fez regularly include the Mellah in half-day and full-day walks that cover Fes el-Jdid, the gates of the Royal Palace, the Jewish cemetery and the synagogues, before continuing into the older medina of Fes el-Bali with its tanneries and madrasas.

A guided walk of this kind usually includes the guide's time and sometimes a vehicle between quarters, while entry fees at each site are often paid separately. Specialist Jewish heritage tours of Morocco also stop here as part of a longer route through Fez, Meknes and Rabat. Visiting independently is perfectly possible. The Mellah lies next to the Royal Palace in Fes el-Jdid, a short taxi ride or a 20 to 30 minute walk from Bab Boujloud, and the synagogue is tucked down a lane off the main street of the quarter. Ask locally, as the doorway looks like any house front. The page lists any GetYourGuide tours whose route passes the synagogue.

Visiting Ibn Danan Synagogue: what to see and how to behave

The Ibn Danan Synagogue is one of the oldest surviving synagogues in Morocco and the best preserved in the Mellah, the Jewish quarter founded beside the royal city of Fes el-Jdid. It was first built in the seventeenth century by a wealthy merchant, Mimon Boussidan, and like much of the quarter it was damaged and rebuilt several times. From 1812 until it closed in the 1960s its rabbis all came from the Ibn Danan family, whose roots reached back to Granada before the expulsion of 1492, and it now carries the name of Rabbi Shlomo Ibn Danan. By the 1990s the roof was failing and the plaster peeling; a careful restoration completed in 1999 saved it. From the street, an ordinary door opens on a few steps leading up into a tall rectangular hall, divided by a row of three pillars and lit by small windows high in the walls.

The things to look for are the carved wooden Torah ark that fills an entire wall, with fine plasterwork above it; the blue patterned tiles along the lower walls; the painted beamed ceiling; and the raised alcove opposite, screened by carved wooden arches, from which the bimah projects under a wrought-iron canopy topped by a crown. Ask the caretaker to show you the stairs down to the vaulted chamber beneath the hall and the ritual bath, or mikveh, rediscovered during the restoration in 1997. Dress modestly, keep your voice low, and ask before photographing. The synagogue is no longer used for regular services, but it remains a sacred space for the Jewish community of Fez.

Ibn Danan Synagogue: opening hours, ceremonies and the best time to go

The synagogue usually opens during the day from morning until late afternoon, when the caretaker is present. It is generally closed on Saturdays for the Sabbath and on Jewish holidays, so plan a weekday visit. Mornings are calmer in the Mellah, and the light falling from the high windows is softest then. Spring, from March to May, and autumn, from September to November, are the most comfortable seasons for walking in Fez.

Summers are very hot, and winters can be cold and wet in the stone lanes. During Ramadan the city's rhythm changes, with quieter days and busy evenings, though the Mellah's sites usually keep their hours. Allow 30 to 45 minutes for the synagogue. Combine it with the Jewish cemetery and its whitewashed tombs, the Slat al-Fassiyin synagogue nearby, the bronze gates of the Royal Palace, and a walk through Fes el-Jdid to Bab Boujloud and the old medina.