Frommer's Review
The most celebrated of the many medersas (theological colleges and dormitories) built by the Merenid dynasty, Bou Inania Medersa is a group of buildings built between 1350 and 1356 by Sultan Abou Inan. It simultaneously functioned as both an educational institute and as a congregational mosque, and accommodated shops and a large public latrine along the front facade. Not a particularly pious man, it is thought that Abou Inan built the medersa, with its accompanying mosque and minaret, as his personal rival to the powerful Kairouine complex to its east. Legend has it that upon being presented with the total cost of its construction, Abou Inan tore apart the accounts, threw them into the river, and responded dismissively, "Whatever is beautiful cannot be expensive at any price. What is enthralling is never too costly." Zellij, carved wood, and panels of stucco, originally a mix of plaster and egg whites, finely carved with Koranic verses decorate every available surface of the courtyard. Wood mashrabiyya screens separate the marble-paved courtyard from the arcaded corridors leading to the student rooms. The contrast between the excessive decoration in the courtyard and the spartan accommodations for the students, in use up to 1956, is quite alarming. The green-tile roof and tall minaret are noticeable from Bab Bou Jeloud . As part of the ongoing Réhabilitation de la Médina de Fès project, the medersa is currently undergoing restoration and should reopen to visitors sometime in 2008.
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