Fez Tanneries Quiz: Chouara Dye Pits and Moroccan Leather

This Fez tanneries quiz looks down from the terraces over the honeycomb of stone pits in Morocco's oldest medina. Play 10 interactive questions on the Chouara tannery, white pits of lime and pigeon droppings, natural dyes like poppy, indigo and saffron, hides from goats and camels, babouche slippers, the mint sprigs visitors hold and Fez el-Bali's UNESCO status.

Start Fez Tanneries Quiz

🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

City
Which Moroccan city is famous for these tanneries?
Largest
What is the largest tannery called?
Pits
What do the tanneries look like from above?
White
What softens hides in the white pits?
Red
Which flower can give a red dye?
Blue
Which plant dye gives blue?
Yellow
Which costly spice has been used for yellow leather?
Mint
Why are visitors handed sprigs of mint?
Slippers
What leather slippers are made in Fez?
UNESCO
When was the Fez medina listed by UNESCO?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Which Moroccan city is famous for these tanneries?
Answer: Fez
They sit inside the old medina.
Q2: What is the largest tannery called?
Answer: Chouara
It is centuries old.
Q3: What do the tanneries look like from above?
Answer: A honeycomb of stone pits
Each pit holds a different liquid.
Q4: What softens hides in the white pits?
Answer: Lime and pigeon droppings
The mix helps remove hair.
Q5: Which flower can give a red dye?
Answer: Poppy
Natural colors are traditional.
Q6: Which plant dye gives blue?
Answer: Indigo
It has long been traded.
Q7: Which costly spice has been used for yellow leather?
Answer: Saffron
Turmeric is a cheaper option.
Q8: Why are visitors handed sprigs of mint?
Answer: To mask the strong smell
The pits smell of ammonia.
Q9: What leather slippers are made in Fez?
Answer: Babouches
They have pointed or rounded toes.
Q10: When was the Fez medina listed by UNESCO?
Answer: 1981
It is called Fez el-Bali.

Stone Pits and Natural Dyes

The tanneries of Fez lie in Fez el-Bali, the old medina listed by UNESCO in 1981. The largest, Chouara, has worked leather for centuries. Seen from the leather shop terraces around it, the stone vats form a honeycomb of white and colored circles.

Hides from cows, sheep, goats and camels are first soaked in white pits filled with lime and pigeon droppings, which loosen hair and soften the skin. Workers then move them to dye pits colored with natural materials such as poppy for red, indigo for blue, saffron or turmeric for yellow and henna for orange.

The smell of ammonia is strong, so guides hand visitors sprigs of mint to hold. Finished leather becomes bags, jackets and babouche slippers sold in the souks. Chouara was restored in the mid-2010s, and other tanneries such as Sidi Moussa still work nearby.

What This Quiz Teaches

Craft and travel fans will enjoy these questions.

Where the tanneries are
How hides are softened
Which dyes give color
What is made from leather
Why mint is handed out

Did You Know?

Drying hides are laid on rooftops.
Work is heavy and done by hand.
Shop terraces give the best view.
Mornings show the brightest dyes.
Donkeys carry hides through narrow lanes.