Wood craftsmanship in Morocco: cedar, thuya, and the carving tradition

Cedar from the Middle Atlas forests has been Morocco's structural and decorative wood of choice for centuries. Carved ceiling beams, monumental doors, the lattice screens known as mashrabiya, all traditionally use it, prized for being workable, aromatic, and resistant to insects. A lot of what looks like painted plaster ceiling in an old palace or madrasa is actually carved cedar underneath the paint.

Thuya wood is a narrower, stranger story. The tree grows almost exclusively around Essaouira. Its burl, the gnarled root growth, produces a richly patterned wood used for marquetry and inlay work: boxes, chess sets, furniture panels, often combined with mother-of-pearl or contrasting wood strips.

Both crafts are still done entirely by hand. Carving uses chisels, not machine routers, for the fine geometric and floral patterns, and marquetry is cut and fitted piece by piece. It's slow work, which is part of why a well-made piece costs a lot more than a quick souvenir version.

Essaouira is where you actually see thuya work being made, not just sold. Several workshops sit inside the old town ramparts, and watching a craftsman cut and fit an inlay pattern makes it obvious why the good pieces aren't cheap.