Last updated: June 2026
Fes is the craft capital of Morocco and it earns that title. But one hour inside the medina and you’ll also spot mass-produced ceramics trucked in from Safi, synthetic leather bags from Chinese factories, and “zellij” tiles that were machine-cut in a warehouse. This guide is about telling the difference - and buying the real thing at a price that doesn’t leave you feeling robbed.
I’ve been to Fes three times across my six Morocco trips, most recently in spring 2026. The craft scene is genuinely extraordinary. The sales pressure around it is equally extraordinary. Both things are true. For broader orientation, the Fes travel guide covers the full picture of what to do in the city.
The Blue-and-White Pottery: What Makes It Fassi
The blue you see on Fes ceramics - called le Bleu de Fès - comes from cobalt oxide and it’s been the signature of this city’s potters for centuries. Genuine Fassi stoneware is made from fine, light-coloured local clay, thrown on a wheel by a master potter, dried slowly, then hand-painted before a second firing.
The key test when you pick up a piece: turn it over. Authentic Fes-made pottery will have “Fas” (the Arabic name for Fez) hand-painted on the base, often with the potter’s signature. You’ll also see small circular marks from kiln stacking - these are a good sign, not a flaw. Cheap imports from Safi (Morocco’s other pottery city, which makes a rougher terracotta) won’t have these marks or the Fas inscription.
The blue decoration should feel slightly raised and textured if you run a fingernail gently across it - proper cobalt pigment applied by hand sits differently to a printed transfer. Plates should have an uneven, hand-thrown curve to them. Perfect uniformity is a warning sign.
Where to buy: The small Souq el-Henna near the Attarine Medersa has independent shops selling genuine Fassi pieces at better prices than the big showrooms. Wander off the main tourist drag. If a shop is at the end of a guided tour route, prices will be 40-60% higher than the same quality piece sold fifty metres away.
Zellij: Watching It Made at Art Naji
Zellij is the geometric mosaic tilework you see covering everything from fountain surrounds to palace floors. Each piece is hand-cut from fired clay tiles using a small hammer and chisel - a process that has not changed since the 14th century.
Art Naji (28 Derb Ain Azliten, established by the Fakhari brothers in 1930) is the most-visited zellij cooperative in Fes and it’s worth going. The visit is free and a guide walks you through the full process - clay mixing, firing, pigmenting, and then the extraordinary skill of the cutters who chip each tesserae into precise geometric shapes without a template. It takes years to learn to cut accurately. Watching someone do it quickly and flawlessly is genuinely impressive.
Be clear-eyed about the context: Art Naji is a working factory and a very effective sales showroom. After the tour you’re steered through a large shop. The quality is real - they export internationally and they know it. The prices reflect this. A small decorative zellij panel that would cost 150-200 MAD in the medina’s craft quarter will be 400-600 MAD here. If you want a bespoke commission - a custom panel to specification, shipped internationally - Art Naji is a legitimate place to arrange this. For standard decorative pieces, you can find comparable quality in the medina for less.
The Cooperative Artisanale de Fes is an alternative that some visitors find lower-pressure, though it’s smaller and the range isn’t as extensive.
Leather from the Tanneries: Reality Check
The Chouara Tannery is one of the most photographed sights in Morocco and the leather that comes out of it - treated in the traditional stone vats using pigeon dung, quicklime, and natural dyes - is the real thing. Fes is still a working tannery city.
The problem is the buying experience around it. To see the tanneries from above (the only good vantage point), you enter through a leather shop. The shops and the tannery management have a mutually beneficial arrangement. You get a rooftop view and a sprig of mint to hold against the smell; the shop gets a captive audience who’ve just watched the whole process and feel emotionally invested in buying something.
Leather bought in these rooftop tannery shops is typically 30-50% more expensive than the same quality piece from medina leather shops a five-minute walk away. The leather is not better - it likely came from the same source. You’re paying for the theatre.
What to actually buy: Babouche slippers (the pointed leather slippers in yellow, tan, and red), simple belts, and traditional purses are the items where Fes leather genuinely shines. Avoid anything claiming to be “full-grain camel leather” - most of what’s sold is goat or sheep. A fair price for well-made babouches is 80-150 MAD in the medina souk. If someone is asking 400 MAD before negotiation, walk to the next shop.
Read more on visiting the tanneries in the Fes tanneries guide.
Place Seffarine: Brass and Copper You Can Watch Being Made
Place Seffarine is a small square just south of the Qarawiyyin Mosque and it is one of the few places in the Fes medina where artisans work completely openly, without a sales pitch attached. Coppersmiths sit around the square hammering brass and copper into tea trays, tagine pots, lanterns, and serving bowls using traditional hammers and mandrels. Some shops now use lathes and rolling mills for the shaping stages, but the decorative hammering and engraving is still done by hand.
This is not a tourist attraction with an entry fee - it’s a working square where the metalworkers just happen to be visible. You can sit at the small cafe overlooking the square and watch without obligation.
What you can buy here: copper tea trays (a genuine one will ring clearly when you tap the edge), brass lanterns (check the hinge quality on any door), hand-engraved copper plates. A decent medium-sized tea tray runs 150-250 MAD. Prices here are more honest than in tourist-facing shops because the artisans are dealing with a mix of local and tourist customers.
Avoid anything made of thin pressed metal with a factory-stamped pattern - it will look the part but dent immediately. Handmade pieces have slight variations in the hammering texture; machine-pressed pieces are uniform.
The Nejjarine Museum: Woodwork Worth an Hour
The Nejjarine Museum of Wooden Arts and Crafts sits in a beautifully restored 18th-century caravanserai in the woodworkers’ souk quarter. Entry is around 30 MAD and it’s one of the better-value museum visits in Morocco.
The collection covers carved cedar woodwork - doors, window screens, furniture, musical instruments - from across the centuries, and gives you context for what you’re seeing in the workshops outside. Cedar from the Middle Atlas has been Fes’s primary workshop material for a thousand years, and the geometric and floral carving traditions are specific to this city.
After the museum, walk through the Nejjarine souk. You’ll see carpenters making the traditional carved wooden ceilings (moucharabieh) and carved plaster panels that go into riads and mosques. Some sell smaller items - carved cedar boxes, mirror frames, small decorative panels. A genuine carved cedar piece has a faint, pleasant resinous scent. The laser-cut MDF versions (which exist and are sold to tourists) do not smell of anything.
The rooftop cafe at Nejjarine has good views over the medina and is a useful stop mid-morning.
Weaving: Harder to Find, Worth Seeking
Fes has a weaving tradition that most tourists miss entirely. The Nejjarine area includes traditional loom workshops producing hand-woven textiles - geometric kilim-style cloth, silk-thread djellaba fabric, and traditional striped wool. The looms are large, loud, and usually visible through open workshop doors.
This is not a tourist-facing industry. You’ll need to wander into workshops uninvited (generally fine, usually welcomed with tea) and negotiate directly with the weaver rather than a middleman.
Authentic hand-woven cloth has slight variations in the weave - you can see the individual threads. Mass-produced imports from China are machine-made and perfectly uniform. The Souk el-Attarine and the Kissaria (covered textile market near the Qarawiyyin Mosque) have the best range of genuine locally-produced cloth.
Shipping Things Home: What Actually Works
Shipping from Morocco is doable but requires patience.
Pottery and zellij: Art Naji ships internationally and knows how to pack fragile pieces properly. If you buy ceramics elsewhere, DHL in the Ville Nouvelle is more reliable than Poste Maroc for international parcels. Medina packaging for ceramics is often optimistic.
Leather and textiles: Pack in your luggage. A medium leather bag takes almost no space; babouche slippers fit in socks. No reason to ship.
Copper and brass: Heavy, not fragile. Measure anything large before buying - trays can be 60-80cm across and won’t fit in overhead luggage.
Morocco has no export restrictions on craft goods. EU and UK customs allow personal craft purchases without duty if declared.
For bargaining strategy across all these purchases, the guide to bargaining in Morocco covers the mechanics in detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the pottery at Art Naji better than what you’d find in the medina?
The quality is genuine and consistent - they export internationally and have a reputation to maintain. But similar quality exists in the medina at lower prices, particularly around Souq el-Henna. Art Naji’s advantage is the full factory tour, the international shipping experience, and the ability to commission bespoke zellij work. If you just want a few bowls, shop around the medina first.
How do I tell fake leather from real leather in Fes?
Genuine leather bends and creases in a soft, irregular way. Synthetic leather (PU or bonded leather) has a perfectly uniform surface and often a slightly plasticky smell. A simple test: press your thumbnail into the surface - real leather will leave a temporary indent that slowly recovers; synthetic will spring back immediately. The edge of a cut piece of genuine leather will have a fibrous, porous look; PU shows a uniform cross-section. Most of the very cheap bags (under 80 MAD) are synthetic.
What’s a fair price for a blue Fes ceramic bowl?
A small decorative bowl (15-20cm) should cost 60-120 MAD if you negotiate calmly. A large serving bowl or tajine dish (30-40cm) is 150-280 MAD. If you’re being quoted double these figures, try a different shop. Prices near the main gates (Bab Bou Jeloud especially) are consistently higher than inside the medina.
Is the cooperative visit at Art Naji worth doing even if I don’t want to buy anything?
Yes. The factory tour itself is free, genuinely informative, and takes about 30-45 minutes. Watching the zellij cutters work is impressive. The sales pressure at the end is real but you are not obliged to buy anything - a polite “not today, thank you” is enough. Go with a clear head about what you do and don’t want.
Can I ship large zellij panels or custom tilework back to Ireland or the UK?
Yes, Art Naji does this regularly. A custom panel takes 4-8 weeks and shipping to Europe runs 1,000-2,500 MAD depending on size. Get a written quote covering panel, packaging, shipping and insurance before committing. The Cooperative Artisanale de Fes also handles commissions but has less international shipping experience.
Where should I start if I only have half a day for craft shopping in Fes?
Start at Place Seffarine first - no sales pressure, great to watch, and you can get your eye calibrated for what authentic handwork looks like. Then walk through the Nejjarine souk area. Go to Souq el-Henna for pottery. If you have time, do the Art Naji tour in the late morning before the tourist buses arrive. Save the tannery leather shops for last and only go if you’ve read the Fes tanneries guide first - go knowing exactly what you want to spend.
Ready to see Fes’s craft districts with a local expert? Browse our Fes tours to find guided medina walks that include time in the artisan quarters.
Heading to the medina for the first time? The Fes medina guide covers orientation, navigation, and what to expect on your first day inside the walls.
