Fes Tannery, Morocco
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Chouara Tannery is one of the three tanneries in the city of Fez, Morocco. It is the largest tannery in the city and one of the oldest.
The process begins with the raw animal skins being soaked in a mixture of cow urine, pigeon poop, quicklime, salt and water.
Yes, the smell is really as bad as you can imagine!
The quicklime helps to remove the hair from the skins, while the acid in the pigeon poop softens the skins. After three days of steeping in this concoction, the skins are hauled out and washed, then draped over the balconies to dry.
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