Founding of al-Qarawiyyin in Fez

Fatima al-Fihri, daughter of a merchant who had moved from Kairouan, used her inheritance to found a mosque in the Qarawiyyin quarter of Fez in 857–859. Enlarged by later dynasties, it became one of the great centres of learning in the Islamic world, teaching law, theology, grammar and astronomy. It still stands at the heart of the medina and is often cited as the oldest working university.