al-Attarine Madrasa

File:In Morocco (1920) (14779102731).jpg and original bronze chandelier visible]]

The Marinids were prolific builders of madrasas, a type of institution which originated in northeastern Iran by the early 11th century and was progressively adopted further west. These establishments served to train Islamic scholars, particularly in Islamic law and jurisprudence (fiqh). The madrasa in the Sunni world was generally antithetical to more "heterodox" religious doctrines, including the doctrine espoused by the Almohad dynasty. As such, it only came to flourish in Morocco under the Marinid dynasty which succeeded the Almohads. To the Marinids, madrasas played a part in bolstering the political legitimacy of their dynasty. They used this patronage to encourage the loyalty of Fes's influential but fiercely independent religious elites and also to portray themselves to the general population as protectors and promoters of orthodox Sunni Islam. The madrasas also served to train the scholars and elites who operated their state's bureaucracy.

The al-Attarine Madrasa, along with other nearby madrasas like the Saffarin and the Mesbahiyya, was built in close proximity to the al-Qarawiyyin Mosque/University, the main center of learning in Fes and historically the most important intellectual center of Morocco.{{Cite book|last=Métalsi|first=Mohamed|title=Fès: La ville essentielle|publisher=ACR Édition Internationale|year=2003|isbn=978-2867701528|location=Paris}}{{Cite book|last=Gaudio|first=Attilio|title=Fès: Joyau de la civilisation islamique|publisher=Les Presse de l'UNESCO: Nouvelles Éditions Latines|year=1982|isbn=2723301591|location=Paris}}{{Cite book|last=Le Tourneau|first=Roger|title=Fès avant le protectorat: étude économique et sociale d'une ville de l'occident musulman|publisher=Société Marocaine de Librairie et d'Édition|year=1949|location=Casablanca}} The madrasas played a supporting role to the Qarawiyyin; unlike the mosque, they provided accommodations for students, particularly those coming from outside of Fes.{{Cite book |last=Parker |first=Richard |title=A practical guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco |publisher=The Baraka Press |year=1981 |location=Charlottesville, VA |pages=136–139 |language=en}} Many of these students were poor, seeking sufficient education to gain a higher position in their home towns, and the madrasas provided them with basic necessities such as lodging and bread. However, the madrasas were also teaching institutions in their own right and offered their own courses, with some Islamic scholars making their reputation by teaching at certain madrasas.

File:Medersa Mesbahia - Medersa Mesbahia - Fès - Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine - AP62T060666.jpg

The al-Attarine madrasa was built between 1323 and 1325 on the orders of the Marinid sultan Abu Sa'id Uthman II.{{Cite book|last1=Lintz|first1=Yannick|title=Maroc médiéval: Un empire de l'Afrique à l'Espagne|last2=Déléry|first2=Claire|last3=Tuil Leonetti|first3=Bulle|publisher=Louvre éditions|year=2014|isbn=9782350314907|location=Paris|pages=486}} The supervisor of construction was Sheikh Beni Abu Muhammad Abdallah ibn Qasim al-Mizwar. According to the Rawd el-Qirtas (historical chronicle), the sultan personally observed the laying of the madrasa's foundations, in the company of local ulema.

The creation of the madrasa, as with all Islamic religious and charitable institutions of the time, required the endowment of a habous, a charitable trust usually consisting of mortmain properties, which provided revenues to sustain the madrasa's operations and upkeep, set up on the sultan's directive. This provided for the madrasa to host an imam, muezzins, teachers, and accommodations for 50-60 students. Most of the students at this particular madrasa were from towns and cities in northwestern Morocco such as Tangier, Larache, and Ksar el-Kebir.

The madrasa has been classified as historic heritage monument in Morocco since 1915.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Medersa El-Attarine|url=http://www.idpc.ma/view/pc_architecture/sanae:270001?f_province=14.231%7CFES&page=2&hpp=100&num=187|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Inventaire et Documentation du Patrimoine Culturel du Maroc|language=fr-FR}} The madrasa has since been restored many times, but in a manner consistent with its original architectural style. Today it is open as a historic site and tourist attraction.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco/the-mediterranean-coast-and-the-rif/fes/attractions/medersa-el-attarine/a/poi-sig/1143425/355510|title=Medersa El Attarine {{!}} Fez, Morocco Attractions|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}}

The madrasa is a two-story building accessed via an L-shaped bent entrance at the eastern end of Tala'a Kebira street. The vestibule leads to the main courtyard of the building, entered via an archway with a wooden screen (mashrabiya).{{Cite book|last1=Touri|first1=Abdelaziz|title=Le Maroc andalou : à la découverte d'un art de vivre|last2=Benaboud|first2=Mhammad|last3=Boujibar El-Khatib|first3=Naïma|last4=Lakhdar|first4=Kamal|last5=Mezzine|first5=Mohamed|publisher=Ministère des Affaires Culturelles du Royaume du Maroc & Museum With No Frontiers|year=2010|isbn=978-3902782311|edition=2}} The south and north sides of the courtyard are occupied by galleries with two square pillars and two smaller marble columns, which support three carved wood arches in the middle and two smaller stucco muqarnas arches on the sides. Above these galleries are the facades of the second floor marked by windows looking into the courtyard. This second floor, accessed via a staircase off the southern side of the entrance vestibule, is occupied by 30 rooms which served as sleeping quarters for the students. This makes for an overall arrangement similar to the slightly earlier Madrasa as-Sahrij. The entrance vestibule also grants access to a mida'a (ablutions hall) which is located at its northern side.

At the courtyard's eastern end is another decorated archway which grants entrance to the prayer hall. Most of the Marinid-era madrasas were oriented so that the main axis of the building was already aligned with the qibla (the direction of prayer), allowing the mihrab (niche symbolizing the qibla) of the prayer hall to be allowed with the entrance of the main courtyard. However, the space into which the al-Attarine Madrasa was built evidently did not allow for this layout, and instead the mihrab is off to the side on the southern wall of the prayer hall, on an axis perpendicular to the main axis of the building. The prayer hall itself is rectangular, but a triple-arched gallery on its north side allowed architects to place a square wooden cupola over the main space in front of the mihrab. This unusual but elegant solution to the limited and awkward space available for construction demonstrates the ingenuity and rational approach to design that Marinid architects had achieved by this time.{{Rp|313}}

File:P1030513 (14224899537).jpg|Wooden roof and stucco decoration over the street in front of the madrasa's entrance

File:Medresa Al-Attarin(js)1.jpg|Wooden mashrabiya screen at the entrance of the courtyard

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa DSCF3636 (R Prazeres).jpg|Western side of the courtyard, looking towards the entrance

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa DSCF3546 (R Prazeres).jpg|One of the galleries along the sides of the courtyard

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa DSCF3530 (R Prazeres).jpg|Eastern side of the courtyard, looking towards the entrance of the prayer hall

File:Al Attarine Madrasa Fez el Bali Fez Morocco - panoramio (1).jpg|The prayer hall and mihrab

File:Al Attarine DSCF4156.jpg|The former ablutions facility (mida'a)

File:Al Attarine upper floor DSCF4060.jpg|The upper floors of the madrasa, where the student sleeping quarters are located

Although its exterior is completely plain (like most traditional Moroccan buildings of its kind), the madrasa is famous for its extensive and sophisticated interior decoration, which exhibits a rigorous balance between different elements, marking the period of highest achievement in Marinid architecture.{{Rp|347, 360}} The main courtyard demonstrates this in particular. The floor pavement and the lower walls and pillars are covered in zellij (mosaic tilework). While most of the zellij is arranged to form geometric patterns and other motifs, its top layer, near eye-level, features a band of calligraphic inscriptions on sgraffito-style tiles running around the courtyard.{{Cite book |last1=Degeorge |first1=Gérard |title=The Art of the Islamic Tile |last2=Porter |first2=Yves |publisher=Flammarion |year=2001 |isbn=208010876X |pages=66–68 |language=en |translator-last=Radzinowicz |translator-first=David}} Above this, in general, is a zone of extensive and intricately-carved stucco decoration, including another layer of calligraphic decoration, niches and arches sculpted with muqarnas, and large surfaces covered in a diverse array of arabesques (floral and vegetal patterns) and other Moroccan motifs. Lastly, the upper zones generally feature surfaces of carved cedar wood, culminating in richly sculpted wooden eaves projecting over the top of the walls. Wooden artwork is also present in the pyramidal wooden cupola ceiling of the prayer hall, carved with geometric star patterns (similar to that found more broadly in Moorish architecture). The wood-carving on display here is also considered an example of the high point of Marinid artwork.{{Rp|337}}

The prayer hall also features extensive stucco decoration, especially around the richly-decorated mihrab niche. The entrance of the hall consists of a "lambrequin"-style arch whose intrados are carved with muqarnas. The upper walls of the chamber, below the wooden cupola, also feature windows of coloured glass which are set into lead grilles (instead of the much more common stucco grilles of that period) forming intricate geometric or floral motifs.{{Rp|338}} The marble (or onyx) columns and the engaged columns of the courtyard and prayer hall also feature exceptionally elegant and richly-carved capitals, among the best examples of their kind in this period.{{Rp|340}}

The madrasa also features notable examples of Marinid-era ornamental metalwork. The doors of the madrasa's entrance are made of cedar wood but are covered in decorative bronze plating. The current doors in place today are replicas of the originals which are now kept at the Dar Batha Museum. The plating is composed of many pieces assembled together to form an interlacing geometric pattern similar to that found in other medieval Moroccan art forms such as Qur'anic or manuscript decoration. Each piece is chiseled with a background of arabesque or vegetal motifs, as well as a small Kufic script composition inside each of the octagonal stars in the wider geometric pattern. This design marks an evolution and refinement of the earlier Almoravid-era bronze-plated decoration on the doors of the nearby Qarawiyyin Mosque. Another piece of notable metalwork in the madrasa is the original bronze chandelier hanging in the prayer hall, which includes an inscription praising the madrasa's founder.

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa (8753630063).jpg|Example of zellij tilework in the madrasa, with complex geometric patterns on the lower walls and a band of calligraphy above

File:Al-Attarine calligraphy DSCF3971.jpg|Close-up of Arabic calligraphy in carved stucco (above) and glazed sgraffito-type tiles (below)

File:MedersaAttarine.jpg|View of the small arches and blind arches (or niches) at the corners of the courtyard which are sculpted with muqarnas

File:Islamic Art (4782216896).jpg|Example of motifs in carved stucco around the courtyard

File:Medersa el Attarine, Fez (1) (13712699093).jpg|Details of the wood-carving along the top of the walls in the courtyard

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa DSCF3617 (R Prazeres).jpg|Wooden cupola ceiling in the prayer hall

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa IMG 2223 (R Prazeres).jpg|The "lambrequin" or muqarnas arch of the prayer hall's entrance

File:Fez (25236659647).jpg|Details of the stucco decoration (and a marble engaged column) around the mihrab

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa DSCF3614 (R Prazeres).jpg|Stucco decoration and coloured glass windows in the upper walls of the prayer hall

File:Fez (40108864701).jpg|One of the intricately-carved marble capitals above the columns in the courtyard

File:Doorknob (4782213188).jpg|The decorative bronze plating of the doors at the madrasa's entrance (replicas of the originals)

File:Al-Attarine Madrasa IMG 5583 (18125570609).jpg|The Marinid-era bronze chandelier in the prayer hall

{{Reflist}}

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• [http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;21;en 'Attarin Madrasa] at Museum with no Frontiers
• [https://www.manar-al-athar.ox.ac.uk/pages/search.php?search=%21collection2399 Attarine Madrasa فاس - مدرسة العطارين] - Photos from the Manar al-Athar Digital Photo archive

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Category:Madrasas in Fez, Morocco

Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1325

Category:Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1320s

Category:Marinid architecture

Category:Tourist attractions in Fez, Morocco

Category:14th-century madrasas