Crafts of Fez

The visit of the medina of Fes is an excellent opportunity to observe closely the long process of production of traditional Moroccan dishes.

The medina of Fez is full of original souvenirs of Morocco and the objects are sold there are handmade.

The mere fact of being able to rummage through the small shops of artisans whose assortment resembles Ali Baba's treasure is a tourist attraction. You can see craftsmen working there is even taking pictures. Near the madrasah Bou Lnania, one makes articles in bronze (plate and jewels chiselled by hand by craftsmen of Fez or in alpaca (teapots typical of Morocco) manually woven carpets and covers in natural wool of sheep and camel are sold near the Séfarine square, one of the Fez handicrafts and Fassie ceramics with white and blue patterns available in Néjarine.

In the Chouwara tannery, there is handcrafted leather goods, babouche - traditional Moroccan shoes , as well as leather jackets, leather handbags, leather belts and Moroccan slippers for women hand-embroidered. Near the tannery, there are manufactories where fabrics and fabrics made of agave yarn (called vegetable silk) are woven.

New Medina and ancient Medina of Fez

In the new city, Moroccans and Moroccans wear jeans and t-shirts while in the medina, considered the bastion of the Muslim tradition, this type of outfit is not adequate. In the old city of Fez, everyone wears djellabahs (traditional Moroccan dress tunic) and women hide their hair under veils. On Friday, the corresponding day in the Islamic world on Sunday among Christians, the medina becomes deserted and silent.

Workshops and shops close. The men, dressed in white, go to the mosque while the women, who stayed at home, prepare the traditional Friday dish, couscous (durum wheat semolina with a vegetable sauce cooked with lamb or beef). The closed houses and workshops then resound with recordings of imams reciting the Koran. Five times a day, by calling the faithful to prayer, the muezzins make the beauty of their voices heard.

They sing from the top of towers of more than 280 mosques spread in the medina. The atmosphere of Friday is also felt in the streets around the mausoleum Moulay Idriss where, in the absence of room in the temple, the faithful stop to pray. That is why it is forbidden to come into the grounds surrounding the mausoleum accompanied by pack animals, the presence of which could constitute a risk of pollution of the streets by excrement.

In the narrow streets of the medina, it is possible to transport the goods only by donkey or mule, which is the best way to supply the shops and factories of the city with products. The passers-by give way to the charged animals and their guides shouting in Arabic: * Jhilak, sweep! Which means "Attention! ". In the streets, there are also children running with trays placed on the head and carrying ha pale for the manufacture of bread.

The cooking is done in bakeries, because the houses, built mainly of cedar wood, for reasons safety, are deprived of large furnaces that are replaced by gas ovens. Given the customs prevailing in the medina, the outfits that are worn, home-made methods or the appearance of houses, it seems that it has not changed in centuries.