Heritage Without Borders: al-Qarawiyyin, Fez

The al-Qarawiyyin mosque and learning centre in Fez was completed in 859, according to published accounts, and has been a teaching place for much of its history. Guinness World Records recognises it as the oldest degree-granting university in the world, and UNESCO has described it as a university since its founding. Both claims are contested: historians note that it did not describe itself as a university until much later, and some give the title to the University of Bologna, established in 1088.

The founder's story has the same shape. Fatima al-Fihri is credited with founding the institution, but one source calls her role as founder of the university alongside the mosque mythologised rather than documented. What is clearer is that the mosque grew into a teaching institution that became the modern University of al-Qarawiyyin in 1963.

The library, restored under architect Aziza Chaouni, reopened in 2016, and reports say it holds thousands of ancient manuscripts. It is, by reports, the first time in its history that it opened to the public, though access remains limited. Check current access rules before you go: parts of the complex are open only to Muslims, and the library may require an appointment.