Fes Shopping — The Medina Souks, Craft by Craft

Shopping in Fes is different from anywhere else in Morocco because the old city is still, loosely, organised the medieval way: by guild. Walk the main arteries and you pass from the leatherworkers to the coppersmiths to the weavers, each trade concentrated in its own lanes around the shrines and fountains that anchored the guilds. Understanding this layout turns an overwhelming maze into a legible shopping map.

The two great spines are Talaa Kebira and Talaa Seghira, which run downhill from the Bab Boujeloud gate into the heart of Fes el-Bali, threading past most of the craft zones before reaching the Qarawiyyin mosque-university and the tanneries. Because the medina is a genuine warren of thousands of lanes, it pays to read our navigation guide before diving in, or to hire a local guide for a first orientation.

What follows is a craft-by-craft tour of what to buy and where. Fes rewards slow shopping: watch the artisans at work, learn to tell handmade from imported, and you will come away with pieces that carry the city's thousand-year craft pedigree.

Leather is Fes's most famous product, and the source is the extraordinary Chouara tanneries, where hides are still cured and dyed in stone vats exactly as they were centuries ago. The leather-shop terraces overlooking the pits are where most visitors first encounter the trade, and where the hard sell is strongest, so read up before you go and buy on quality, not pressure.

From this leather come jackets, poufs (the round floor cushions, best bought unstuffed and flat-packed), bags, belts and, above all, babouche slippers, covered in depth in our babouche guide. Judge leather by its supple feel and honest smell, check stitching and linings, and remember that a soft, even hide and neat seams separate a lasting piece from a cheap one that will crack.

Prices vary enormously with quality and your bargaining, so handle several pieces, compare shops, and do not let a terrace view and a mint sprig rush you into buying. Genuine Fes leather is superb; the trick is buying it calmly and well.

For metalwork, head to Place Seffarine, the coppersmiths' square near the Qarawiyyin, one of the most atmospheric corners of the medina. Here artisans beat sheet brass and copper into enormous trays, cauldrons, teapots, lamps and mirrors, and the constant ring of hammering announces the square before you see it. This is the place for hand-chased tableware and lanterns, explored further in our lanterns and metalwork guide.

Look for solid, heavy brass and copper with dense, deliberate engraving rather than thin, machine-stamped imports, and turn pieces over to check they are finished front and back. Tea trays, teapots and engraved platters are the classics; larger hammered pieces are magnificent but heavy, so factor in how you will get them home.

The nearby Nejjarine district, centred on the beautiful mosaic-tiled Nejjarine fountain and the Museum of Wood Arts, is the woodworkers' quarter and a natural pairing with a metalwork stop. Between them, Seffarine and Nejjarine form the medina's craft heart.

Fes is Morocco's ceramic capital, famous for its distinctive cobalt 'Fes blue' pottery and for zellij, the hand-cut mosaic tilework that covers the city's palaces and fountains. The working potteries and zellij ateliers are concentrated at Ain Nokbi, a craft quarter just outside the walls near Bab Ftouh, where you can watch potters throw, painters decorate, and craftsmen chip individual tesserae by hand into geometric patterns.

For buying, the medina shops carry plates, bowls, tagines and decorative tiles, while a visit to Ain Nokbi lets you see the process and often buy at the source. Genuine hand-painted Fes pottery has slight irregularities and a hand-drawn quality; very cheap, perfectly uniform 'Fes' ceramics may be transfer-printed or imported.

Pottery is the trickiest craft to transport, being both heavy and breakable, so buy with the journey in mind. Small, well-wrapped pieces travel in a suitcase padded with textiles; for larger or fragile items, use a shop that packs and ships properly rather than risking them in your bag.

Fes has a long carpet trade, and the medina's carpet houses, some in restored merchants' mansions, will roll out piece after piece over glasses of mint tea. Fes is known for finely knotted urban rugs as well as the tribal pieces brought in from the surrounding regions; take your time, learn to read knot density and materials, and never feel pressured by the ceremony of the sell.

The city's kissariat, the covered market lanes, are the place for textiles: woven blankets, scarves, embroidered cloth and the kaftans and djellabas Fes is renowned for tailoring. Around the Nejjarine quarter, cedar woodworkers produce carved boxes, mirror frames, chess sets and marquetry inlaid with lemonwood and mother-of-pearl, light, distinctive and easy to carry.

Fes is also a place for the fine crafts that reward a discerning eye: hand-embroidery, silk-button work, and the intricate belts and passementerie of the traditional tailors. These smaller, lighter pieces make some of the most portable and personal souvenirs the medina offers.

Haggling is the norm in the souks, though many cooperatives and museum shops sell at fixed prices. As a rule, decide what a piece is worth to you, open well below the asking price, and be ready to walk away, which often produces the real price. Stay friendly, take your time, and remember that the goal is a fair deal both sides are happy with, not a humiliating victory.

For anything large, heavy or fragile, established shops arrange shipping by air or sea; get the price, contents and dimensions in writing, insure valuable consignments, and keep photographs and receipts. Guides and 'helpful' strangers who steer you to a shop usually earn a commission baked into your price, so it is often cheaper to browse independently once you know your way around.

Above all, let Fes be slow. The medina is a place to watch craft being made and to buy from the artisans who make it. A morning spent learning to tell hand-cut zellij from printed tile, or supple Fes leather from stiff import, is the best investment you can make before you spend a dirham. Pair your shopping with the medina's monuments and museums for a fuller day.