In the 9th century, when Moulay Idriss II founded Fès, tanners were already settling on the banks of the Fès river. The abundant water allowed the repeated rinsing of the hides; the local clay and lime served for de-hairing. The nascent city quickly adopted a proverb: "Dar Dbagh, Dar Edheb" — the house of tanning is the house of gold.

Gallery

scroll →

Around 1325, the historian Ali ibn Abi Zar, in his Rawd al-Qirtas, lists 86 tanning houses active in the medina. Seven centuries later, three remain — Chouara, Sidi Moussa, Aïn Azliten — all at the heart of the same perimeter, a few steps from the Karaouiyine mosque. Chouara is the largest, the most visible, the most photographed. It is also the oldest enterprise in the world still in operation, all categories combined.

i. The word maroquin

From the 13th century, European commercial archives mention the import of Moroccan leathers to Andalusia, then Italy. In the 17th century, the French term "maroquin" designates a supple, finely grained leather, dyed in bright colours — a luxury product France paid dearly for and imitated poorly. The word, like the object, comes from the country's name.

The house of tanning is the house of gold. Fassi proverb, 14th century

ii. The ritual of the vats

Tanning in Morocco remains, at Chouara, almost entirely vegetable — meaning it uses tannins from plants, without chromium or synthetic products. This is what distinguishes Fès leather from any industrial production. The process unfolds in five main stages:

1. Soaking and de-hairing — the fresh hides (cow, sheep, goat, camel) are plunged for several days into vats containing a mix of quicklime and pigeon droppings. The ammonia in the droppings attacks the hair and softens the dermis.
2. Rinsing — the hides are taken out and trodden at length in running water to flush out the lime.
3. Tanning — a bath in a vat of mimosa and tara bark, or dwarf-palm leaves. The tannins bind and stabilise the collagen fibres.
4. Dyeing — each vat is a pigment: poppy flower for red; indigo for blue; henna for orange; mint for green; saffron for the yellow of the so-called "Ziwani" babouches.
5. Drying — three days on the terraces of the medina, exposed to sun and wind.

iii. The figures

iv. A fragile economy

The leather sector has, for twenty years, been going through a series of tensions. The supply of raw hides has tightened: Moroccan slaughterhouses often prefer direct export. Vegetable tannins — historically imported to Fès from the Souss — cost more each year. Competition from cheap industrial chrome leathers erodes margins. And transmission suffers: fewer young people enrol in vocational training.

To respond, the Ministry and the Maison de l'Artisan have launched several programmes: rehabilitation of the three tanneries (completed in phases between 2013 and 2020), creation of a collective "genuine Fès leather" mark, shared equipment, and registration in the specifications for geographical indications.

v. Chronological landmarks

vi. See, smell, buy

Three active tanneries

• Chouara — the largest, accessible from the surrounding leather shops that offer a panoramic terrace. Souk Chouara, Fès el-Bali.
• Sidi Moussa — more discreet, active in the same quarter.
• Aïn Azliten — the smallest of the three, away from the tourist routes.

Buying real leather

Objects coming straight from the tanneries are sold in the adjoining souk. To recognise leather truly tanned in Fès, trust the material: vegetable leather has a dry smell (of wood, of bark), not the chemical smell of chrome; it ages into a patina, not a crust; it breathes. Favour the cooperatives and identified workshops, ask the origin, refuse "genuine leather" without a mention of tanning.

vi. Babouches — البلغة المغربية

The babouche is the Moroccan traditional shoe par excellence — its name derives from the Persian papuš via the Turkish babuç, but its current form is essentially Moroccan, fixed in Fès in the 15th century. Decree no. 2.21.991 on the list of craft activities recognises the making of traditional babouches ("kheraz", from the word for cobbler in Moroccan Arabic) as a craft in its own right.

The cobbler-babouche maker (el kheraz) works by hand, without nails, assembling the sole (thick multi-layered leather) and the upper by stitch-by-stitch sewing. A quality traditional babouche requires 4 to 8 hours of work depending on the complexity of the embroidery.

Yellow fassia babouche · البلغة الصفراء

The Fès classic, in natural sheepskin dyed with turmeric then waxed. Flat heel, pointed toe (or round for the older ones). Yellow babouches are worn for prayer, at the mosque, and on formal occasions (weddings, Eid). Production concentrated at Bab Boujloud and the souk of the medina of Fès.

Embroidered babouche — feminine finery

Women's ceremonial babouches, in velvet, satin or fine leather, embroidered with gold thread, silk or pearls. The embroidery takes up the motifs of the caftan (eight-pointed star, arabesques, stylised flowers). The tarz fassi (Fès embroidery) and the tarz tétouani (Tétouan cross-stitch) are prized. Luxurious variant: the cherbil, with an internal high heel, worn by brides.

Berber belgha — the shoe of the south

More rustic babouches of the Amazigh regions: Souss, Anti-Atlas, Tafilalet. Bovine leather tanned with vegetable tannin, thicker sole, more marked heel. Often red or brown. For men, functional (transhumance, walking); for women, decorated with coloured wool pompoms.

Damascene belgha — the Meknès piece

A Meknès speciality: the sole or the upper bears damascening inlays (gold or silver threads set into the leather). Limited production, high price, destined for export or collectors.

Modern babouche and new directions

Since 2010, several Moroccan designers (Atelier Nawel, Zyne, Sabah Morocco) have modernised the babouche for the international market: new colours (pastel, metallic), more contemporary shapes, marketing in Europe. The manufacture remains artisanal, in the workshops of Fès, Marrakech or Casablanca. It is today one of the three most-exported Moroccan leather articles (with poufs and art leatherwork).

vii. Official sources

1. Law 50-17 on the exercise of craft activities (Dahir no. 1.21.122, Official Bulletin December 2021).
2. Decree no. 2.21.991 — list of the 172 craft activities (leather and traditional footwear branch). rna.gov.ma
3. Maison de l'Artisan (MDA) — Leather Excellence Programme. mda.gov.ma
4. Regional Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage (CRPCI), Fès — Under the aegis of UNESCO.
5. Moroccan Federation of Tanning and Leather — Annual sector statistics.