Fez Morocco | Ray and Shelley's Retirement Adventures

We were fortunate to be able to take a tour of the oldest tile factory in morocco, which is located in the city of Fes and is called the Art Naji. We were met by one of the workers who was happy to take us for a tour of the facility which has maintained the art of the ancient craft of pottery and mosaic (Zellige) since 1930.

This family run business is known for its amazing craftsmanship and has proved its artistic expertise in the field of pottery and mosaics. All the tiles and work is done completely by hand using ancient processes that makes the tiles unique. The workers were very proud and happy to show us the process and their work.

One of the workers stopped and showed us how he makes the hand painted pottery which is completely made on site.

The work begins with clay that is located in a special area that is used to make the pots. This clay is apparently special and provides a quality product.

Art Naji is a 3rd generation family business and has been working on handicraft pottery and accessories for decades. It is also the biggest facility of handmade pottery in Morocco with over 4000 square meter space dedicated to a pottery studio for different workshops in Morocco. It was interesting to see how each small individual tile is handmade and cut individually. It is long and painstaking process which they take pride in doing.

Worker forming and shaping the small individual tiles

There are rows of workers each making unique and special handmade tiles for different projects that are being made.

The small tiles are then constructed into larger designs making everything from tables, pots, fountains and even building tiles for facades. We walked through the different areas of the factory looking at the many different processes being done.

Hand painting of the clay pots and bowls

Some workers have over 40 years working in the factory and are known as the most talented and professional tile makers in Morocco.

It is truly amazing to think that they have adapted to modern life and yet they have maintained the traditional tile making as a viable business. Fountains are made by inserting each small handmade tile into a mold system which is then used to create the fountain.

Back part of the fountain being molded and prepared for hand made tiles

Some of the finished fountains and tiles

We saw some spectacular pieces of pottery and tile work. Everything was made with exact details and you could see the quality of the pieces.

The tiles are specially made for different projects including the facade of the Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca. They ship their tiles and products globally around the world.

We truly enjoyed exploring and visiting this factory. It was a very unique and interesting tour. Their focus of handmade and quality tiles has survived over the generations in this world of mast production. It truly is a piece of art!

“السفر يجعلك متواضعا ، ترى ما هي القطعة الصغيرة التي تشغلها في العالم.”

We spent the day exploring Fez which is the second largest city in Morocco and considered as the the “Mecca of the West” and the “Athens of Africa”. The city was first founded in 789 and has a rich and interesting history. Our first stop was at a lookout that provided us with amazing views of Fez. We walked along the wall and looked at the different views of the city. It truly is a large and unique city.

After admiring the beautiful vistas, we headed to the Royal Palace in Fez. The 80-hectare Dar al-Makhzen known as the Royal Palace has some ornate gates which were built in 1969.

Ray and Shelley in front of the Royal Palace doors

They are the main feature visible to the public, the grounds are not open to the public. The Palace and grounds are still used by the King of Morocco when he is visiting the city.

After visiting the Royal Palace we went to the UNESCO world site, the Medina of Fez. It has 9400 narrow alleyways and streets which would make it very easy to get lost. We were fortunate to have a local guide who lived in the Medina most of his life.

It was very interesting walking though the Medina, there are no motorcycles or vehicles of any kind permitted in the Medina. In fact the Medina is the largest vehicle free zone in the world. The only way to move merchandise or supplies is by donkey or pushcart. We began our walk in a larger area of the Medina where the alleyway was wider than most.

As we walked along it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in narrow alleyways.

We followed our guide through these very narrow alleyways and explored unique areas of the Medina.

Our guide leading us through one of the narrow alleyways in the Medina

Some of the alleyways were completely covered and it felt like walking through a narrow tunnel.

The Medina has over eight kilometers of city walls and has an estimated population of 200,000 living within the Medina. Each area has a mosque, school and other traditional services. It felt like we were walking back in time to centuries earlier.

Each alleyway had a marker which indicated the name of the alley.

The doors of homes were unique and had two door knockers. One was set higher and made a different sound, which was for non family visitors. This provided a unique sound letting the homeowner know it was not family. The second knocker lower into the door was for family who were familiar members of the home.

Traditional door of a home within the Medina of Fez

The Medina of Fez is considered as one of the most extensive and best conserved historic cities of the Arab-Muslim world. We walked along the unpaved alleys and spaces which seemed to have frozen in time and not been destroyed by modern times. This was an amazing feeling to wander the alleys and see people still making products by hand and selling products made right in the Medina.

Metal pots and copper pots being made on site and sold in the Medina

The people living inside the Medina walls also buy food and merchandise within the Medina. We came across many vendors of different foods.

Olives and other pickled items for sale at one vendor in the Medina

There was even camel meat for sale at one or two specialty shops. The shops would displayed the heads of the dead camels to advertise the fresh camel meat.

We eventually walked to the area of the dye-pits and to the tannery inside the Medina.

Material and wool being dyed by hand in the dye pits of the Medina

Wool being dried above us as we walk through an area of the Medina

We then went to the largest and oldest tannery in the city called the Chouara Tannery, which is located in the Medina. It is believed that this tannery has been operational since before the 12th century. The tanning industry in the Medina has been operating basically the same since the early centuries. There are round stones that are hollowed out and filled with dye or other white liquids for softening the leather hides.

View of the Tannery with the hollowed out stone vats used for the tanning process.

It was interesting to see the process and to walk through the store looking at the amazing hand crafted leather goods. After a few hours in the alleyways of the Medina we stopped for lunch. We enjoyed the time to sit and relax while taking in the aromas and sounds of the Medina.

The local food was delicious and overall it was surreal experience. After lunch we continued our exploration of the Medina for a while before heading out to start our next adventure. We really enjoyed our time exploring and walking through the Medina of Fez.

“لا تدع الخوف يمنعك من تجربة أشياء جديدة واستكشاف العالم”