Place Seffarine

Seffarine means the coppersmiths, and the square is where they are - a small irregular open space with workshops round it and metal stacked outside, where men hammer sheet copper and brass into cauldrons, trays, buckets, teapots and the great vessels used for hammams and for weddings. The sound is constant and loud enough that conversation on the square is difficult, and that is the reason to stand there. The work is done cold with hand hammers on stakes, with fires for annealing, and the pieces are functional rather than decorative - hammams and restaurants are the customers as much as visitors. The Seffarine madrasa, founded in 1271 and the oldest in Fes, is on one side, and the Quaraouiyine library is immediately adjacent, so a square of hammering metal sits against the oldest university in the world, which is a fair summary of how the medina works.

History

Coppersmiths have worked here since at least the 16th century, when Leo Africanus noted them, and gave the square its name. The Saffarin Madrasa on the square was built in 1271 by the Marinid sultan Abu Yusuf Ya'qub, the oldest purpose-built madrasa in Morocco, and the Qarawiyyin library beside it was first built in the late 16th century by Sultan Ahmad al-Mansur (Wikipedia, Place Seffarine).

What's there

• Cold hammering - copper and brass worked by hand on stakes with annealing fires.
• Functional output - hammam cauldrons and wedding vessels, not only souvenirs.
• The oldest madrasa in Fes - Seffarine, founded 1271, on one side of the square.
• The noise - constant enough to make talking on the square hard.

When to go

October to April; mornings when the workshops are going. Half an hour.

Practical notes

It is loud - genuinely uncomfortable for some. Photographing the smiths requires asking and often a small payment. The square is small and busy with handcarts. Shops around it price for visitors.

Nearby

The Quaraouiyine and its library are adjacent; the tanneries are north-east.

Key facts