The University of al-Qarawiyyin is located in Fez, Morocco.
Al-Qarawiyyin was founded in 859 by Fatima al-Fihri, a woman from a wealthy family who used inherited money to establish a mosque and educational institution. It grew within Fez’s historic medina, a major centre of Islamic learning, law, and scholarship.
The institution is often described by UNESCO and other references as the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world. The modern meaning of “university” developed gradually, so comparisons with European universities founded centuries later require care. Al-Qarawiyyin traditionally focused on religious sciences, Arabic grammar, law, and related fields.
Fez itself was founded in the late eighth or early ninth century and became a major intellectual and commercial city. Another common mix-up is Cairo’s al-Azhar, founded later in 970 or 972, which is also one of the world’s oldest prominent centres of higher learning.