"What is beautiful is never too expensive. What is glorious has no price". Thus spoke the Merinid Sultan Abu Inan when he was presented with the final costs of the monumental Bou Inaniya, a medersa or religious Muslim academy, that he had built in his capital, Fez, in the 14th century.

Today, we can still appreciate the wealth and great sophistication of its decor. Marble and onyx pave the courtyard and wooden sculpture adorn the rooms. The extravagant Sultan wanted it to rival the Qarawiyn, one of the greatest North African mosques and universities situated in the heart of the medina and restored under the Almoravids.

The medersa's 19 naves, supported by 270 columns, run the width of the wall to its far end, to the "qibla", which is turned towards Mecca. This layout, typically found in the sanctuaries of Fez, is characteristic of early Islam and emphasizes the religious prestige of the city founded in 789 by Moulay Idriss, the illustrious descendant of the Prophet. In contrast, the naves of the great Mosque of New Fez run lengthwise like the great Mosque of cordoba, facing the mihrab, a part of the wall showing believers the direction of Mecca. It inherited some of its details from the Omayyad period, such as its ribbed domes and lambrequin arches.

Two other Merinid medersas, Es- Sahrij in the city's basin and el Attarin in its perfumery district, grace Fez. They are among the finest medersas in Morocco. Fez's maze of alleys also conceals private residences dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, each brightened by a riad, an inner garden that originated in Persia.

Located near the Qarawiyn is the Tsetaouin, a remarkable 14th century caravanserai, one of 200 found in Fez el- Bali. Not far from there, the zaouia of Moulay Idriss II, a shrine for pilgrims, reflects the extraordinary Muslim mysticism that began in the 12th century. On the other side of Fez. The imperial palace, Dar El- Makhzen, which the Merinids began building in the 13th century, still watches over the turbulent medina and its 80 hectares of buildings.

The Almoravids, relatives of the Tuaregs, preferred Marrakesh. The expansive palm groves and sumptuous gardens, most notably those in the Menara, could only flourish because of the irrigation network installed by the Sultan Youssef Ibn Tachfine, the city's founder.

The Koutoubia, the Book Merchant's Mosque, remains one of the most beautiful in Islam. Constructed around the mid- 12th century by Abd El Moumen, the Almohad conqueror from the heights of the Atlas, it is an innovative version of the Grande Mosque of Cordoba with its 17 naves perpendicular to the "qibla" and the five domes of its transept. Its elegant minaret, a lacework of rose- colored stones that is nearly 69 meters high, has never been restored. Although only a few impressive vestiges remain of the famous El- Badi, the former palace of Ahmed El Mansour, the lavish Saadian Prince of the 16th century, the Saadian necropolis still displays the magic of its stucco, ivory marble, and cedar ceilings rubbed in gold.

The great Almohad Sultan Yacoub El Mansour chose Rabat as his capital. Of the mosque that he wished to make the grandest in the world, only its Hassan Tower survives, incomplete. But the citadel or kasbah of the Oudayas and the monumental ramparts of both the Oudayas and Bab Er- Rouah display an accomplished military art that is only found in the Bab El Mansour of Meknes. Meknes was the final imperial city created by the Sultan Moulay Ismaïl who was a visionary when it came to building cities.

The last of the meticulously well kept cities of yesterday is Casablanca, which could become the fifth imperial city for the 21st century. As the kingdom's economic capital, it has adopted an ambitious urbanization plan that respects the Moroccan architectural tradition but at the same time opens the metropolis up to the modern world. The renovation of the Corniche, the Congressional Center, the Mechouar and a cultural center are some of the projects planned. The projects already completed, the Great Mosque and the new police headquarters, prove that the daring challenge to create a new imperial city can be met.