A mellah ( or 'saline area'; and ) is a Jewish quarter of a city in Morocco. Starting in the 15th century and especially since the beginning of the 19th century, Jewish communities in Morocco were constrained to live in "mellah" districts in many Moroccan cities. The name "mellah" derives from a local toponym in Fez which became the name of the first separate Jewish district in Morocco (the Mellah of Fez) created in that city during the 15th century. The term is often mistakenly conflated with European ghettos.