Histoy & Smells - The Chouara Leather Tannery in the Heart of Fes's Ancient Medina

In Fes’s long history, it has been known for many things, including a religious capital, a seat of political power, impressive artisans, and an important trading hub. One craft that has been done here for as long as the city's history is leather tanning. While I am in Fes, I think it would be a cool idea to see how they tan the leather, and maybe even get a leather jacket for myself.

I decided to visit the Chouara Tannery, as it is the city's biggest and most famous tannery. I figure there will also be many shops around, and I would have a good chance at getting a jacket at a good price.

To get here, you must make your way back to Fes el-Bali area (Old Medina), near the Al-Qarawiyyin Mosque & University that I visited in my last post. This is the building with the green tower and the beautifully tiled courtyard. I didn’t know at the time, but this is the oldest continually operating university in the world. Here is a picture of the cool doorway and alley out front.

You will walk about five minutes down the alley from Al-Qarawiyyin until you reach an unsuspecting alley with various shop entrances. Before you have a chance to realize where you are, someone will inevitably pull you into their shop. The shopkeepers are eager to take you into their shops, where you can see the tannery out of their back terrace. Multiple shops will have a good view of the tannery. You should not pay any entrance fee, as most shopkeepers are just happy to have you look at their leather goods after viewing the tannery.

The first thing you will notice, before you even step out on the terrace, will likely be the smell. As this tannery still operates in the traditional way, there are a number of factors that contribute to the strong odor. For starters, the raw cow, sheep, and goat skins are typically delivered to the tannery with blood, fat, and hair still attached. To remove this excess material, the skins are cleaned and soaked in vats containing lime and pigeon droppings. Pigeon poop is naturally rich in ammonia, which soften the skins and makes it easier to scrape off the hair and fats. Additionally, there are a number of other natural minerals and plants in other vats that can also give off sour smells.

The shopkeeper gives me a small bundle of mint leaves to put under my nose, which actually does a pretty good job of masking the smells. When I am done looking at the tannery, I wander through the leather shop. The quality of the leather is really good, but the prices seem much higher than I was expecting, so I decided to continue my leather jacket search elsewhere.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to the ancient Chouara Tannery. All photos were taken by me, thank you for stopping by! :)

If you are interested in reading more about my travels in Morocco, please check out some of my previous posts here:

Golden Gates & Holy Towers- Fes’s Ancient Medina
A Hillside Fortress & Ancient Tombs Overlooking Fes
Exploring Fes’s Ancient Maze of Alleys
Following Goats to Summit of Mountain Over Chefchaouen