The oldest university in the world, according to Guiness World Records, al-Qarawiyyin opened in 859 AD under the patronage of Fatima al-Fihri, a wealthy Arab woman who also commissioned a mosque ...

The University of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez, Morocco, was originally founded as a mosque in 859 AD. According to Guinness World Records, it is the oldest higher learning institution in the world.

A courtyard in front of a mosque adjacent to the al-Qarawiyyin Library, pre-restoration. Khonsali via Wikimedia Commons When the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University was first built in ...

The golden domed Al Aqsa Mosque sits in the heart of Jerusalem's walled city, on one of the most fought-over spaces of land in the world. The mosque is located on the site known as the Noble ...

Eventually, the University of al-Qarawiyyin moved to another location in Fez, but the mosque and library remained at the original site.

Al-Qarawiyyin library in Fez, Morocco, is the world's oldest, continuously running library. It dates back to 859 AD.

So goes an old Moroccan proverb. For centuries, wise men have flocked to the city of Fez seeking knowledge from the books held within its ancient library at al-Qarawiyyin. Scholars and students at ...

A courtyard in front of a mosque adjacent to the al-Qarawiyyin Library, pre-restoration. Khonsali via Wikimedia Commons When the library at Morocco’s al-Qarawiyyin University was first built in ...