Artisan Workshops in Fez: Pottery, Leather, Wood and Brass

The crafts

• Pottery: the cobalt Bleu de Fes dates to the late 15th century.
• Wood: the Funduq al Najjarin was built in 1711 and has been a wood arts museum since 1998.
• Leather, brass and engraved metal, and weaving.

Claims to treat with care

You may read that zellige is UNESCO listed. It is not yet: Morocco has started work to nominate the zellige of Fez and Tetouan. Silk buttons, for their part, come from Sefrou and my village of Bhalil rather than from Fez itself.

Prices

With me, a private artisan workshop in Fez is from 100 US dollars and up, depending on the craft, the length of the session and the size of your group. Ask me for a quote for the workshops you would like to try.

Where each craft lives in the medina

Fez kept its medieval guild system longer than almost any city in the Islamic world, and each craft still has its own quarter. Walking from one to the next is the best way to understand how the city works.

Craft	Where to see it	What you can try
Pottery and zellige	The potters of Ain Nokbi, just outside Bab Ftouh	Painting a bowl in the blue Fez style, or cutting a zellige tile
Copper and brass	Seffarine square, next to Al Quaraouiyine	Hammering and engraving a small plate
Wood	Nejjarine and the carpenters lanes	Carving a simple pattern in cedar
Leather	Around the Chouara and Sidi Moussa tanneries	Stitching a small leather piece
Weaving	Small workshops near Bab Guissa and in Bhalil	Working a few rows on a traditional loom
Embroidery	Family houses across the medina	Learning the Fassi stitch, terz fassi

Zellige: the mosaic of Fez

Zellige is cut by hand from glazed clay tiles into small pieces, each shape chipped with a sharp hammer, then laid face down in a pattern and backed with plaster. A master, the maallem, can work for years before he cuts the most complex stars. You see the result on the walls of Bou Inania and Al Attarine, and in the workshops you see how slowly it is made.

Blue pottery of Fez

The cobalt blue on white Fez pottery is the most famous ceramic style in Morocco. The clay comes from the hills around the city, the pieces are thrown on foot powered wheels, fired in kilns that still burn olive pits and wood, then painted by hand. At Ain Nokbi you can follow a bowl from raw clay to the final glaze in one morning.

How a workshop day works

• We agree the crafts you want to try in advance, so the artisans expect us.
• Each session lasts one to three hours, and you keep what you make when the piece allows it.
• There is never pressure to buy. If you want something, you buy it directly from the maker.
• Children are welcome in most workshops, and pottery painting is a favourite with families.

Book

See our Unique Experiences and book an experience. Related: Fez tanneries and a cooking class in Fez.