Photo Essay: The Tanneries of Fez

While more modern methods prevail elsewhere in the world, in Fez, Morocco, artisans have been tanning leather using techniques that date back 1000 years. These tanneries are tucked behind the medieval buildings that comprise the old city center, the medina. First, animal hides are cut, cleaned and dried. Then they are put into giant stone vats and stomped for hours until they are soft and pliable and have taken on the color of the dye. Tanners stand directly in the vats, using their hands and feet to manipulate and crush the hides. Later the leather is taken to rooftops and drying lines to dry, before being sold to local merchants who use it make shoes, hats, bags and any number of other items. When you buy a pair of vivid leather shoes from the souk in Fez, bear in mind the backbreaking, dirty work that was required to produce those gleaming slippers — a tradition that will likely go on for another 1000 years.

Fez tanneries (photo by Sarah Khan)

Chouara Tannery, the most famous in Fez.

(Shutterstock)

A worker pulls hides out of cleaning vats, the first part of the tanning process. The skins are washed and soaked in a mixture of water and pigeon poo, which makes them supple and soft.