While the great shrine of the city is the Zaouia Moulay Idriss II in the heart of Fes el-Bali, the founder himself — Moulay Idriss I, who established the first settlement on this site in 789 — is buried in Moulay Idriss Zerhoun, a small hill town about 60km northwest of Fez near the Roman ruins of Volubilis. The town that grew around his grave is itself an important pilgrimage destination.
The shrine in Fes el-Bali, dedicated to his son, is more visited and more central to daily Fassi religious life. The wooden bars (horom) at knee-height across the alley entrances mark the sanctuary boundary — horses and mules cannot cross them, and neither, traditionally, could non-Muslims. The bars survive as a historical curiosity; today non-Muslims can approach and watch the activity around the shrine from outside its walls.