The Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts

The building was a funduq, a merchants' inn where traders slept above and stored goods and animals below, and its restoration in the 1990s is one of the more convincing conservation projects in the medina. Three galleried storeys look down into a tall narrow courtyard, and the collection is arranged around them: carved cedar panels and ceiling fragments taken from demolished houses, wedding chests, Quran stands, musical instruments, prayer beads, and the tools of the carpenters whose souk still operates outside the door. The top floor opens onto a terrace with a cafe and a view over the roofs and minarets of Fes el-Bali that is worth the ticket by itself. The tiled fountain in the square outside is one of the finest in the city.

What you actually see

• The funduq courtyard - three tiers of galleries around a tall, narrow inner court.
• The carved panels - cedar ceilings and doors rescued from demolished medina houses.
• The roof terrace - a wide view over the flat roofs and minarets of the old city.
• The Nejjarine fountain - the tiled public fountain in the square at the entrance.

When to go

Late afternoon suits the roof terrace, when the light is low over the medina and the heat has dropped. The museum is small enough that crowding is rarely an issue, though group tours pass through the courtyard. Photography rules inside the galleries have varied, so ask at the desk.

Honest expectations

The collection is modest and the labelling is limited, so an hour is plenty and some visitors feel the ticket buys mainly the roof view. There is no lift and the stairs are steep. The terrace cafe is small and can be full. Finding the square at all involves the usual Fes problem of unmarked lanes and helpful strangers who then want paying.

Nearby

The Chouara tannery, the Al-Qarawiyyin quarter and the Talaa Kebira souks are all close.