“Dar Al-Dabbagh” in Fez, Tourist Attraction and a Source of Authentic Moroccan Leather

Luxury Fes Tours is delighted to introduce you to one of the best places in Fez city, a place that attracts the visitors from inside and outside Morocco; it is Dar al-Dabbagh (Tanning House). It is considered to be one of the oldest sites in Fez. It was built in the eleventh century and it is the largest tanning house located near the Saffarine School on the bank of the river in the Fez Al-Bali neighborhood ( the old city), which is the oldest district in the antique city.

Since the establishment of Fez, tanning was a continuous industry in the same way over the centuries until today, and its houses are also of the most important tourist destinations that tourists from inside and outside Morocco visit.

Dar Al-Dabbagh consists of circular basins of stone filled with dyes or liquids to soften the leather, and the products made with them are exported around the world.

Despite the decline in the number of tanning houses in Fez, the remainder of them continued to tanning leather in a traditional way, retaining its traditional nature, and a contribution to the revitalization of tourism in the city as it is one of the most important tourist attractions, which attract Moroccan and foreign visitors.

Dar Al-Dabbagh contributes to the provision of leather for the manufacture of leather clothing and accessories, which is very popular. The process begins by selecting the leather and placing it in the place designated for it for a period of 10 days to 15 days to saturate the colors of the dye, after it has been purified and washed well using multiple materials, and then tanned.

The colors in which the leather is stained are mainly extracted from the pomegranate peels, saffron and other natural materials, after the process of drying them until they are usable.

Dar Al-Dabbagh contributes also to the revitalization of tourism. Despite the development experienced by Fez and the emergence of many modern factories specialized in the manufacture of leather, they are known for the “houses of tanning”, which was more than the number of Fez in other Moroccan cities, and still preserves many of them, and its construction dates back to the Middle Ages.