Photo: The Leather Souq Tannery

The oldest leather tannery in the world should not be missed. When approaching the tannery the smell is unmistakable. The balcony overlooks dozens of stone vessels filled with natural dyes. The hides of sheep and goats are first soaked in diluted acidic pigeon excrement and then transferred to other vessels containing vegetable dyes such as henna, saffron and mint. When the dying process has been completed the hides are dried on the roofs of the Medina.