Fès has three tanneries. Every visitor knows Chouara — the vast medieval complex in the Andalusian quarter whose terraced vats appear on every postcard of the city. Fewer know Sidi Moussa. Almost no one knows Ain Azliten.
That obscurity is part of what makes it worth knowing.
Where It Is
Ain Azliten is located on the northern edge of Fès el-Bali — the old medina — in the neighbourhood that shares its name. It is the smallest of the three tanneries, and the least visited. There are no terraced viewing platforms above it, no mint sprigs handed to tourists at the entrance, no organised tour groups. It is a working tannery, and it looks like one.
What Has Changed — and What Has Not
Ain Azliten has recently undergone significant renovation. Working conditions and living quarters for the tanners have been improved — a meaningful change in a trade that has historically demanded extraordinary physical labour in difficult conditions. Tanners work barefoot from early morning, standing in vats of tanning solution, trampling hides to achieve the desired softness.
The renovation replaced a large number of the old dye basins with concrete infrastructure. But not all of them. Among the new construction, a few of the original tiled bowls remain — the same form that has been used in Moroccan tanneries since the medieval period. They are worth looking for.
What Ain Azliten Produces
Ain Azliten is today primarily associated with the production of leather for the Babouche — the traditional Moroccan leather slipper, known in Fès as the Balgha. The Balgha is one of the most technically demanding objects in Moroccan leather craft: its construction requires a specific grade of soft, supple leather that can be shaped to the foot without a rigid sole. The tannery's smaller scale and specialised output make it a distinct node in the craft ecosystem of Fès — not a lesser version of Chouara, but a different operation serving a different part of the tradition.
The Tanning Process
The process at Ain Azliten follows the same sequence that has been used in Fès for centuries. Raw hides arrive salted and stiff. They are soaked in a caustic bath of quicklime, water, and organic softening agents to loosen the hair and prepare the skin. The hides are then transferred to vats of vegetable tannin — compounds extracted from sumac, oak bark, or gallnut — where they remain for several weeks, transforming from raw skin into stable, rot-resistant leather. Dyeing follows, using natural pigments: poppy for red, mint for green, indigo for blue, kohl for black, henna for orange.
No synthetic chemicals. No industrial machinery. The same sequence, performed by hand, that gave the French language the word maroquinerie.
Why It Matters
The tanneries of Fès are not museums. They are active production sites, under real economic pressure, producing leather that enters the global market through the hands of artisans who have learned the craft from their fathers and their masters. Ain Azliten is the smallest and least visible part of that system — which is precisely why it deserves attention.
For a broader account of the Moroccan leather craft tradition — its history, its products, and the economic pressures it faces — see our guide to Chouara Tannery, the largest of the three tanneries of Fès.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the Ain Azliten tannery?
Ain Azliten tannery is located on the northern edge of Fès el-Bali — the old medina of Fès — in the Ain Azliten neighbourhood. It is the smallest and least visited of the three tanneries of Fès, the others being Chouara and Sidi Moussa.
What does Ain Azliten tannery produce?
Ain Azliten is primarily associated with the production of leather for the Babouche — the traditional Moroccan leather slipper known in Fès as the Balgha. Its output is more specialised than the larger Chouara tannery, which supplies leather for a wider range of goods.
Has Ain Azliten tannery been renovated?
Yes — Ain Azliten has recently undergone significant renovation, improving working conditions and living quarters for the tanners. Many of the old dye basins were replaced with concrete infrastructure, though a number of the original tiled bowls remain among the new construction.
How is leather tanned at Ain Azliten?
The process follows the traditional Moroccan method: raw hides are soaked in a caustic bath to loosen the hair, then transferred to vats of vegetable tannin — derived from sumac, oak bark, or gallnut — where they remain for several weeks. Dyeing uses exclusively natural pigments. The entire process is performed by hand, without synthetic chemicals or industrial machinery.
Can visitors access Ain Azliten tannery?
Ain Azliten is a working tannery with no organised tourist infrastructure — no viewing platforms, no guided entry. It is accessible on foot through the northern medina, but unlike Chouara it does not have a formal visitor experience. That is part of its character.
