The oldest continuous center of learning is in Fez, Morocco. The University of al-Qarawiyyin (aka Al-Karaouine) was founded as a mosque in either 857 or 859, and likely scholars were teaching there soon after. According to a 14th-century manuscript, al-Qarawiyyin was founded by Fatima al-Fihri, a wealthy woman from a merchant family, who had immigrated into the area as an act of charity towards her newfound home.
In the 12- and 13- hundreds, al-Qarawiyyin reached its Medieval apogee, and many adjacent buildings dedicated to learning were added to the original Mosque. The first slide shows the al-Attarine Madrasa dating to 1323. By this point al-Qarawiyyin was the epicenter of several madrasas, or centers of upper-level learning. They served similar constituents as Medieval Universities, except women had slightly more access to al-Qarawiyyin, whose overseers allowed to listen to the academic lectures from a distance (unlike European Medieval Universities). Today, the University of al-Qarawiyyin allows both female and male students (getting in is rigorous, though — you need to have memorized the entire Qu’ran).
The library at al-Qarawiyyin was renowned in its day (and it remains so) — the second slide shows a medical degree, which is the first known medical degree in print, dating to 1207. The third slide shows a bitchin’ 16th-door made of copper with four different locks that needed four different key holders to open because the books inside that vault were so highly treasured.
Fez, Morocco (a UNESCO Heritage Site) is definitely on my travel list.
