I wrote in an earlier post that there is a seqaya, or public fountain, in every neighborhood, but it is probably more accurate to say each neighborhood has at least two or three. Fez is bursting with these fountains and I can think of at least two within a few minutes from my house:

Even the most humble seqaya is decorated with Moroccan tile, or zillij, and serves the community as a place to wash up and collect water. They’re usually placed near the neighborhood mosque to facilitate ablution before prayer, but not always.

My first day here my two host brothers came home with jugs filled with water from one of these public fountains. I assumed that they had bought bottled water from the local store, and drank up. I can now drink medina water without any trouble, though it did initially take my system a small bit of adjustment.

This beautiful fountain is not in my neighborhood, Ras Jnan, but is near the shopping streets and Bab Boujloud.

The sink in the bathroom is my own personal seqaya.