A short walk from the Chouara tannery, the Dyers' Souk is one of the most visually striking spots in the medina: long skeins of wool and silk, freshly dyed in vivid reds, yellows, greens, and blues, hanging on poles above the lane to dry. The dyeing workshops operate at street level below, with large vats of boiling colour. The smell is powerful — vegetable dyes, mordants, and steaming wool.
The dyers work primarily for the weavers and embroiderers of the medina, not for tourists, which gives the souk a matter-of-fact air that the tannery lacks. You can watch the work for free by simply walking through. Sellers in the adjacent alley sell skeins of hand-dyed thread, which makes an unusual and lightweight souvenir if you weave or knit.