The Tannery at Fez

This tannery has been in Fez for 900 years and the process for the treatment of hides is entirely manual and has not changed in all that time.

The first step is to soak the animal hides in diluted pigeon excrement which is mildly acidic and helps to soften the hide. Then they are soaked in dyes to absorb colour and left to dry in the sun on the flat roof tops of the medina. Once dry, the leather is cut to a pattern and manually stitched to make the final product.

With the mix of wet animal hides, pigeon droppings, and huge vats of pungent dyes you can guess that the smell is truly terrible.

This is most definitely a place NOT to bring a vegan :)