Hands
Safi is Morocco's capital of ceramics. Here clay travels from the hill to the kiln, then to the glaze, in the hands of the city's artisans.
From clay to glaze
A piece from Safi passes through several pairs of hands before it reaches a table. In the workshops you see every stage, and you can do some of them yourself.
Clay
The red earth arrives in lumps. It is left to soak, then spread out in the sun before it is kneaded.
The wheel
The potter centres the clay on the wheel and raises the piece: a bowl, a dish, a tagine lid. The unfired pieces then dry in the sun.
The kiln
On the potters' hill, traditional kilns fire the pieces. Clay becomes terracotta.
The glaze
The pieces are dipped in glaze, painted by hand, then fired a second time. The blue of Safi appears as they come out of the kiln.
The potters' hill
Just outside the ramparts, around Bab Chaaba, the workshops crowd the hillside. You see the kilns, the roofs where pieces dry and the shops where they are sold. It is where our workshops begin.
To see older pieces, the National Ceramics Museum is housed in the Kechla, above the medina.
Your workshops
Tell us your dates and we confirm times with the artisan.
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Pottery workshop
Meet Safi's master potters, step inside their workshops and shape your own piece of clay.
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Arts and crafts
Pottery, weaving, copperwork: an immersion in traditional Moroccan craft in Safi.
