18 May 2023, Fes
Maison du Lac R495 [DH260]
It is hard to believe that items of superb quality, beauty and colour are spawned from the Chaouwara tannery at the east end of the Fes medina. One of three tanneries in the city, Chaouwara is the oldest, dating from around 900 to 1000 years ago.
"Hides of cows, sheep, goats, and camels are processed by first soaking in a series of the white liquids – made from various mixtures of cow urine, pigeon feces ["pigeon kaka", said our guide], quicklime, salt, and water – in order to clean and soften the tough skins. This process takes two to three days and prepares the hides to readily absorb the dyes. They are then soaked in the dyeing solutions, which use natural colorants such as poppy for red, indigo for blue, and henna for orange. After the dyeing, they are dried under the sun. The resulting leather is then sold to other craftsmen, who use it to produce Morocco's famed leather goods, such as bags, coats, shoes, and slippers, prized for their high quality. The entire leather production process comprises manual labor only and involves no modern machinery, and has retained methods unchanged since medieval times."
The vats and process can be viewed from one of several rooftop terraces (associated with leather shops) or up close. Either way, the smell is headache inducing though not unbearable. (Charl saw some visitors gagging, so perhaps we are insensitive!) Our terrace offered visitors a sprig of mint leaves to mitigate the wafting odour.
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In a section of the medina that has been renovated and is used to showcase high-end crafts and craftsmanship, we bypassed the ceramics workshop, briefly watched a man hand-crafting a comb from cow horn, and were absolutely blown away by two men weaving brocade. I have never seen such a complex setup, and never one that requires two people to manage.
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We had lunch overlooking the Place Seffarine where copper and brass smiths tink-tonk bowls and kettles and lampshades into shape by hand.
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Charl had his hair and beard trimmed on the street.
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Another good day, with the morning rain stopping for the period we were out…