Hammam Beldi (traditional)
9 500 ruelles, un musée à ciel ouvert classé au patrimoine mondial de l'Unesco.
The traditional hammams of the Fes medina are must-visit places during a stay in the imperial city. Indeed, what traveler has never been exposed to images of beldi hammams, whether in tourist brochures promoting the destination of Fes, or in decoration magazines where Moroccan craftsmanship is beautifully showcased.
Living places of the medina’s neighborhoods
The hammams of the medinas of the Arab world are what we know in the Western world as bathhouses. Historically created to allow the population to wash and perform a complete cleansing in a place designed for this purpose. Currently, hammams still play this role of offering a place at the heart of neighborhoods with a team of employees who maintain, animate and ensure the life of the hammam.
A history at the heart of Fes
The walls of the hammams carry the history of the people passing through over time, from the youngest of all to the oldest, each has come to mark with their imprint the lime walls of these hammams. True pieces of history, these hygiene places are covered on the floor with kilos of soap and now form the joints of the floor zelliges. The large water tanks, hot and cold, have kept their old-time authenticity and are the lungs of these hammams. The Fes medina offers almost as many hammams as minarets, you will be spoilt for choice to venture into these places.
The anecdote of your stay: a traditional hammam
If you dare to push open the door of a traditional hammam, particularly the one that the riad fes Jamaï team recommends, the hammam in the Moulay Idriss neighborhood, it will surely be an adventure you won’t regret. You will be able to spend between 1h and 1h30 in the hammam with the local population and thus live at the true rhythm of the Fassis. You will therefore be able to pass through these 3 rooms of different and increasing heat from room to room.
Once you reach the back of the hammam, you will stay a few minutes to open the pores of your skin before moving into the intermediate room to be handled by a massage expert. The maalem, a graduate of the Moulay Yacoub school, offers you a 15-minute massage which consists of manipulating your upper and lower body, while soaping the entire body with a kessa glove. A unique program to experience, and you will leave this place light as air and at peace.