Tannery is an art that's been practiced for several centuries in Morocco, one of the only places in the world where tanning is done in a traditional way to this day. It was at the time of the Almohad dynasty, in the 12th century, that this art spread in the kingdom, mainly from Fez and Marrakech. Tanneries can be found in other cities such as Tétouan or Taroudant, where the tradition is maintained and practiced using the same techniques as before.
The transformation process
The transformation of animal skins into leather in traditional tanneries is done in 3 essential steps:
First, you have to put the skins into large containers filled with lime, ammonia and pigeon droppings where they will rest for several days.
The second step is to remove the remaining hairs from the skins and color them by immersing them in tanks filled with natural dye. For example, mint is used for the color green, henna for the color orange, leaves and stems of indigo for the color blue, etc.
Finally, the skins are rinsed then dried and finally sent to artisans who will make bags, coats, shoes, etc.
