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Fes el Bali is the oldest walled part of Fes. Fes el Bali was originally founded as the capital of the Idrisid dynasty between 789 and 808 AD. With a total population of 156,000, is believed to be the biggest car-free urban area in the world

Traditional Weaving workshop working with sabra silk from cactus

Cactus silk or Sabra silk is a luxurious fabric made from the Agave Cactus in Fes. Also known as Cactus silk, Sabra silk is a natural fiber harvested from sustainable sources of Saharan Aloe Vera Cactus (the Aloe Vera plant being part of the Agave family). The fabric is a 100% vegetable silk blend of extracted filaments from the aloe cactus grown in Morocco. It is sought for its quality, strength and beauty since millennia.

The process to produce sabra silk has not changed for centuries. Once the Cactus plant is collected from the long agave plants, the long spiky leaves are crushed and the fibres washed and hammered, then the leaves are soaked in water to separate the fibres & filaments and then these are spun and woven to make "silk thread" which are then dyed in different colours. The textile produced has a high elasticity and this makes Sabra-Silk free of wrinkles

Cactus Silk is made from the natural vegetable fibres found in the long agave cactus. Confusingly, even though it is often called an “agave cactus” it is actually not a cactus, but rather just a plant that belongs to the subfamily Agavoideae. So Cactus silk may not be the most appropriate name after all! Another interesting fact: the plants only ever flower once before they die and this can take decades before it even happens!The process for making Sabra Silk has been the same for centuries. Breaking open the cactus, the fibres can be accessed just like finding the fibres from flax to make linen. The spiky leaves are crushed and soaked in water to separate the fibres and filaments, then they are washed and dried and spun to make silk threads.It is traditional to keep the fabric as natural as possible, so many producers will only ever dye cactus silk with natural vegetable dyes. This process can take a long time, but when it is completed the colours are incredibly vibrant and beautiful – and the dye has not damaged the vegetable fibres at all.

Restaurant Ryad Nejjarine

Restaurant Ryad Nejjarine

Sound: Ahmed Chawki - Kayna Wla Makaynach; Habibi I Love You 2016

Text: InternetPictures: Sanda Foişoreanu Sanda Negruțiu Internet slide18,20,38-41Copyright: All the images belong to their authors

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