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The Medina of Fez is considered as one of the most extensive and best conserved historic towns of the Arab-Muslim world.Place Seffarine (aka the metal souk) is the center of the brass trade for all of Morocco

The Medina of Fez preserves, in an ancient part comprising numerous monumental buildings, the memory of the capital founded by the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 A.D.

Founded in the 9th century and home to the oldest university in the world, Fez reached its height in the 13th–14th centuries under the Marinids, when it replaced Marrakesh as the capital of the kingdom. When the first souks appeared within Morocco, they were nothing more than small areas outside the city for merchants to display and sell their goods. The souq (or "souk") is an area in which artisans live, work, and sell their goods. 70% of the population of the medina of Fez work as artisans. Men and their apprentices (usually boys about 10-14 yrs old) hammer at brass pots, gradually (very gradually) shaping them to a fine finish.

Seffarine gets its name from the coppersmiths who practiced one of most important

handcraft jobs in the history of Fez.

Possessing ancestral

knowledge, coppersmiths and boilermakers still

work in the square, pounding copper and brass in a remarkable

orchestra of sound

The first thing one notices about the Seffarine, the brass workers' market, is the noise

The Hamsa, also known as the Hand of Fatima (is believed to provide defense against the evil eye)

 tourist bazaar

Seffarine gets its name from the coppersmiths who practiced one of most important

handcraft jobs in the history of Fez.

The brass workers of Fez turn out a great variety of objects, from tiny doorknockers to five-foot tall incense burners and mosque chandeliers weighing well over a ton. Perhaps their most popular products, among both tourists and Moroccans themselves, are their trays. Useful, attractive, and eminently portable, the trays, too, come in a wide range of styles and sizes, from a few inches to more than a yard in diameter

Brass from Fez is sold throughout the country, from shops in the Casablanca airport to tiny village markets. But for quality, variety, and price - and for the pleasure of watching the objects being made - it is best to go to the source.

Sound: Oum – Salam 2016

Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Foişoreanu Sanda NegruțiuCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuhttps://plus.google.com/+SandaMichaela