One of the most interesting places in the Fez medina was the tannery. Before you can even see the pits that hold the dies and leather it becomes painfully obvious that something different is in the mists ahead. The stench that comes from the tannery is one that will leave you much less hungry than you were before. Nevertheless, this is a site you won't want to miss if you are ever in Fez.
As viewed from above, the tannery looks like a honeycomb or egg carton filled with liquids of all different colors. The pits are made of stone and filled with pigeon excrement, cow urine, and natural dies. First, the leathers are soaked in the pigeon excrement and cow urine in order to help break down the leather to make it fully absorptive for the die. The hides are then moved to the vats filled with natural dies where they will be worked by hand until the leather has taken its color. After this has happened, they will be laid to dry in the sun on the rooftops before being made into leather-goods.
It was amazing to get to see the production of leather working in the same fashion that it did 9 centuries ago in this exact same place. The fact that everything is still done by hand in the same methods is astonishing. It most definitely proves that original process was efficient, effective, and lucrative. The goods were beautiful and I hope I have a chance to go back and bargain for some!
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