When walking around some confusing alleyways a small child asked me I wanted to see the synagogue, I guess this was a popular place foreign visitors were looking for.   After being dead set against being canvassed by beggars most of the time, I decided to give this kid a few coins and go and see where this place was.

The Hebrew used here is a bit unusual as I think its transliterated from Arabic.   Ben/בן is son of in Hebrew and Iban/Aben/אבן is son of in Arabic.

Its sad to think once this had some happier times, and at the time I was travelling, this would of been the week of Purim.

All the artifacts are here as this place has been restored.   This is not used for current religious worship, as there seems to be no practicing Jews to be seen in Fez.

Wavy tiles and pale blue walls are beautiful and distinctly Moroccan.

Mikvah bath.   Notice the lift up wooden trapdoor.   Reminds me of a church my parents took me where the baptism tank was hidden under a secret panel in the floor which fascinated me as a child.

Torah scrolls still there in the ark.   This lady is a local Muslim who lives in the flat next door, it seems the Synagogue is owned by the Moroccan government as a tourist site.   I had to pay 20 Durhams plus a tip for this lady to take my photo.

There’s more information on this places of worship on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibn_Danan_Synagogue_(Fes)

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