Fez (Morocco): The al-Qarawiyyin Library has always been a cause of fascination for residents in Fez, Morocco. Begun in 859, it is considered to be the world’s oldest library, and the rooms were sealed for all but a few students and scholars of the university where it was housed.
“We knew where it was more or less, but could not enter. It was this big, mysterious place,” recalls Aziza Chaouni, a Fez local and the architect who has supervised al-Qarawiyyin’s refurbishment. “I had no idea what lay behind its gigantic iron doors.”
In 2012, a woman from Morocco’s Ministry of Culture communicated with Chaouni for an evaluation. “It was exquisite, but it was in a very bad state,” she recollects. Over the eras, rain water flowed off the roof of the adjacent mosque and permeated the library. After digging, Chaouni found what she recalled as a river running ‘neath the floors.
To preserve the structure from additional damage, she established an underground canal system to guide the water into the sewer, saying,
“When you have books and water, it’s a horrible recipe”.
Though the library isn’t yet accessible to the public, it is anticipated to be in 2017.
