High quality handcrafts are central to the economic well-being of Fes. Some of these crafts are produced in cooperatives. Some employ widows providing a community safety net for them. Our first guide took us through the medina and showed us the tannery, a rug shop, weavers, and cactus silk spinners. For every sale made, I am sure each guide gets a cut. Including the restaurants they send you to.
Anyway, my favorite craft place had moved to a larger facility outside of the media. The Art D’Argile creates some amazing ceramics and mosaics;
Our guide showed us many parts of the production in this cooperative that supports widows and orphans. Quite labor-intensive each person hones their skills on a singular task. The results are truly amazing. Watching people put impossibly small pieces of pottery into patterns face-down for table tops, I can see where one could pay a good price for the skill and time.
They also paint ceramics with great precision.
Ready to be fired
Our guide showed us all the packages that were ready to ship to the US. I wish that I had a need for some of these pieces, and I appreciate that the man showing us around was not a hard sell.
I have to say that I am overwhelmed thinking about writing this post. How can I possibly talk about this ancient imperial city, founded in the 700s, with its 1.5 million inhabitants, and whose medina is UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Of course I can’t cover very much at all, but I will attempt to tantalize you with a few photos and stories. Here is the video I watched to get me excited about hiring a private tour guide. Rick Steves has always said that a private guide will make you appreciate your experience. I felt as though we were a little out of our comfort zone, so we asked the hosts at our Fes riad if they could send us somebody tomorrow. “What time?” they asked. “How about 10:00?” They agreed that that was a perfect time.
Overview of part of the medina
At 10:00, a smartly-dressed young man showed up to pick us up. He said that he was a volunteer guide, and any tip we gave him, we would donate to the widows and orphans (we came to hear that phrase a lot).
We learned that every little neighborhood in the medina has five things: a mosque, a fountain, a Koranic School, a bakery, and a hammam. Like a Turkish or Roman bath, a hammam a public place for a good scrub. We did not try one. The bakery is not what you would think of. Every morning you make your bread and mark it with your family design. Take it to you baker where he puts it is the wood-fired oven. Come back later, and your loaves are waiting for you on the cooking rack.
Mosque and Fountain
Fes is a famous center for handcrafted items. Fine rugs, amazing pottery, leather goods and bronze items.
Apparently you have to go to the tannery on any visit. Those pools you see? Filled with pigeon poop.
We chose Fes over any other large city, as it is supposed to be the most authentic, and less touristic.
Our guide left us once at a building to enjoy it while he went off to pray for five minutes.
He also took us to a rooftop terrace restaurant and told us that in an hour a young man would appear and walk us back to our medina. It’s great to get a local recommendation for a restaurant.
Glamping in Switzerland 