Every walking tour of Fes el-Bali starts here, at the triple-arched cobalt gateway that the French Protectorate built in 1913 to give the old medina a more ceremonial entrance. The original 12th-century defensive gate — with its bent-angle layout designed to slow attackers — still stands sealed off immediately beside it; the newer gate has simply taken over the job of letting people in.

The locals call it Bab Bou Jeloud; everyone else calls it the Blue Gate. The exterior is sheathed in cobalt-blue zellij, the colour traditionally tied to Fes. Walk through and the inner face is green, the colour of Islam. Three horseshoe arches do the work: one large central passage flanked by two smaller pedestrian openings.

Once you're through, the small Place Bou Jeloud opens directly onto Talaa Kebira and Talaa Sghira — the two main lanes that thread the entire medina. Within five minutes' walk you reach Bou Inania Madrasa, the cafés, the juice stalls and the start of most guided routes. Cars cannot enter past this point; drop-offs and taxis stop on the square outside.