The Story Behind the Moroccan Tannery

We know that the Sahara Desert is part of Morocco. But, did you know that this country also produces some of the finest quality leather using traditional methods?

I’m sure that not many know about this. In this article, I will take you to explore Morocco’s Tannery.

Explore a traditional tannery in Marrakech, Morocco, showcasing age-old leather production techniques.

About Moroccan Leather

If you never visited this country, I think I should tell you something unique about leather from Morocco. Here, real leather is usually made from hidden animal skin, especially from Cattle.

But in the Al-Maghrib country, the leather is mostly made from Goat skin. However, Morocco also produces leather from Sheep and Camel hide skin.

This leather is high of quality, and that’s why many fashion accessories made from it. The leather also has good durability and softness.

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As a manufacturer, this country also has its tannery. One of them is located in FES. This tannery also became the largest and the oldest in Morocco.

Behind the making of real leather in this tannery, the worker also needs dyes and oil as a mix of ingredients. You can see all these ingredients were processed naturally with traditional methods.

The result of the Moroccan leather is smooth and has beautiful vibrant colors, that seems like reds, yellows, and golden. Wow, it makes me want to collect it soon!

Moroccan Tannery

If you think that Moroccan leather has poor quality, you’re completely mistaken. This country has been processing leather for over 900 years. Can you imagine?

FES el Bali is one of the oldest districts and a central hub for the oldest leather processing in Morocco. The famous one is Chouara.

This tannery has become a place to process the leather. It starts from the beginning until it is finished to be useful goods. Let me explain to you the process in this tannery. Here are the several steps:

Soaking and Cleaning: First, Animal hides (usually goats) need to be soaked in water. We have to do this to remove dirt and impurities from their skin.

Liming: The second step is liming, when the hides are in the vats, you have to mix them with water and lime. These ingredients will make the hides soften.

Tanning: The next process is tanning. To make the hide mild, it will be mixed with natural ingredients.

Dyeing: Time to color it with the dye process. The leather will be colored using natural things from plants or insects. The results of coloring are red, yellow, and brown.

Drying and Softening: After the dyeing process, you can check that the leather is stretched and dried now. Time to make it supple and ready for use.

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As one of the popular tourist attractions in Morocco, The Chouara in FES is also notable for its open-air vats. So you and your friends can see the workers wading through the different colored liquids, creating an incredibly vivid and somewhat mesmerizing scene.

As a tourist, you can do things like interact with artisans, haggle with the seller when you buy something, and don’t forget to take a mint to your nose.

Are you interested in visiting these tanneries? You need to make a list to come here. Don’t you just be curious about it? Try to buy one of them as a gift or collection.