Fez is the center of the Moroccan leather industry. Tanning hides may be dirty and smelly work but some one has to do it.This job is not for the faint of hearts a difficult chore requiring strength and endurance. The products from the tannery are products to be proud of but few will know the journey the skin they adorn went through. Much of the tannery odour comes from pigeon droppings. Pigeon droppings contain ammonia that soften the skin making the skin become like a piece of cloth.
Visitors to the tanneries climb up narrow stairs and look down on the tanning process, smelling mint leaves to sweeten the smell of the tannery. The dying is still done mostly by hand in huge vats. Skins are then laid out to dry after being dyed.
WATCH VIDEO ON THE TANNERY
Moroccan Tannery video by National geographic
(the young man's story in this clip is very sad)
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