| The Atlantic coast, south of Casablanca is strewn
with many strongholds built by the Portuguese in XV° and
XVI° centuries, with the dual goal to weaken the Merinids
when they tried to conquer back the lost ground in Andalusia,
and to secure their commercial roads. They had made their first
step on Moroccan ground when Dom Henrique the Sailor took Ceuta.
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Asilah,of
Phoenician origin, is an important city in the antiquity, and makes
its own coins. Idrissids will established a fortified camp in the
VIII° century. Its burned and destroyed by Vikings’ repeated
assaults. Later renovated by Cordova sultans, and fortified, it
becomes a prosperous city. A five hundred ships Portuguese Armada
takes it in 1471, and Portuguese will keep it till August 4th 1578,
where their expansion is definitively stopped by their defeat in
the Battle of the Three Kings (where dies Sebastian 1st, King of
Portugal). Asilah is then taken by the Spanish, till its final conquest
by Moulay Ismaïl in 1691.
It becomes famous at the beginning of the XX° century, when
the bandit Raisouli became caid (chief) of Tangiers in exchange
of his collaboration with the power. Soon chased out, he left for
Asilah in 1906, and was finally captured during WWI, when he decided
to ally with Germans against Spain.
It is a small Andalusian city, enclosed inside its monumental
fortified walls, and its old houses with green and blue painted
woods and delicate jalousies (musharabieh) make it lovely. Three
doors only give access to the medina, Bab el-Bahr, the door if
the Sea, and Bab Homar, the door of the Earth, on both sides of
the square tower, still display Portuguese arms. It is also possible
to visit the palace of Raisouli, and a cemetery with graves decorated
with zellij.
Asilah has a very beautiful beach, it is also a very active cultural
centre
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| Azemmour
is a former Almohad city on the mouth of the river Oum er-Bia, founded
on the place of a former Phoenician trading post. In 1513, it is
taken by the Portuguese (who where already in for trading), but
it will remain in their hands only for 28 years. Before the Saadians
expel them, they had time to leave their mark on the medina, where
white houses lay between bougainvillea and olive trees. |
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Very
near Azemmour, El-Jadida,
where, once again, the Phoenicians were the first ones. Portuguese
called it Mazagan, built it anew and fortified it, and could resist
for two centuries and a half in what was one of their last strongholds.
It was known as the safest place in West-Africa. |
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Before fleeing
in front of Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah in 1769, Portuguese put
mines in the stronghold, and burned the city, which will be rebuilt
in 1815 only, under the name of El-Jadida (the new town). In XIX°
century, an important mellah grows. |
Today, El Jadida is a holliday resort for Moroccans who love
the very beautiful beach of Sidi Bouzid. Four of the five destructed
bastions have been built again after the siege of 1769. Bastion
of Saint Esprit give access to the rampart walkand towers over
the rests of the castle, while Bastion of Angel offer a beautiful
view on the city and the Door of the Sea.
Inside the walls one can see many houses of Portuguese style,
unfortunately most of them in advanced decay, like the former
church and the former synagogue, not in use anymore. The most
important building is the Portuguese Cistern, discovered by sheer
luck in 1916, it is worth going to El Jadida for it only. This
huge room of 1.100 m2 displays splendid arches enlightened by
a central well that reflects in a few puddles reminding that this
exceptional space was design to contain water reserves.
During our photography
sessions, a shooting can be organized in the Portuguese cistern.
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Safi,
also called Asfi, is named for the first time in the XI°
century. Portuguese establish a post for triangular trading in
1481, before taking the town in 1508. They build fortified walls
and a stronghold facing the ocean, before being expelled by the
Saadians in 1541. In modern times, the town becomes more and more
important, as the first harbour in Morocco (sardine fishing and
phosphates transportation).
Dar el Bahr (the castle of the Sea) is still furnished with canons
of the XVII°. It was the residence of governors and sultans.
One must walk on the “rue du Souk”, that crosses the
medina, and enjoy workshops and small merchants. Safi is known
for its potteries and their delicate multicoloured ornamentation.
Southwards Portuguese Chapel, eastwards Kelcha’s ramparts,
the former Portuguese fortress and its monumental door. Potters’
workshops are traditionally outside of the city, because this
activity pollutes and bears risks of fires.
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It’s worth noting that,
in 1920, Thor Heyerdahl chose Safi to start his 57 days travel
towards Antilles on a raft made of papyrus and bamboos, and prove
that Africans could have reached Americas more than 4.500 years
ago.
North of the town, a cliff road with a wonderful panoramic
view over the city and the harbour, where a very nice café
installed its tables.
33 kilometres southwards, Souira Kadima (the older rampart)
with the rests of a Portuguese Ribat (fortified monastery).
And a dozen kilometres onwards, after the river Tensfit, the
ruins of the kasbah Hamidouch, behind fortified walls erected
by Moulay Ismaïl. You arrive in the Chiadma country, where
are the Regraga Berbers, the ones who brought Islam in Morocco
says the legend. Their famous moussem celebrates the seven brothers
who left for Mecca to meet the Prophet and came back converted
to the new religion.
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Essaouira,
the former Mogador, is the best known and most visited of all
Portuguese cities.
The town is built on a peninsula where the trade winds permanently
blows, which makes it a vary cool place in the hot Moroccan
summer, and a paradise for surfers.
Like other Portuguese cities, it was at first a Phoenician post,
which is named for the first time in 630 BC.
It became famous because of its production of purpure, so demanded
in the Roman Empire, and develops as a Berber harbour, under
the name of Amogdoul (the well kept), where arrived goods from
Sous and all south of Morocco.
Portuguese use it as a commercial basis, and transform its
name into Mogdoura, later in Spanish Mogadour, and Mogador in
French. In 1505 they build a royal palace at the entrance of
the harbour and develop intensive production of sugar cane.
But the main monument of Essaouira, the Skala, was built by
a French man. Indeed, in 1764, an Alawit sultan willing to punish
Agadir and develop instead Essaouira put in charge Théodore
Cornut, a French prisoner of war, to build a new city. Cornut
will make a modern plan, a squared city with large streets behind
fortifications “à la Vauban”, and the town
receives its new name of Essaouira (the image) or Es-Souira
(the fortified place), both of them in reference to Cornut’s
designs .
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The sultan will support the
development of its new city, inviting European consuls to set
up there, as well as the richest families in the kingdom, the
« tuijar-el-sultan », merchants of the king. It becomes
a cosmopolite city where easily mixed Arabs, Berbers, Gnawas (descending
of the former Guinean slaves). At the end of the XVIII° there
were nearly one thousand European, and the city was in charge
of more than 40% of all sea trading. It declined later under the
Protectorate, facing competition from Casablanca and Agadir.
It knows nowadays a new expansion as a holliday resort and
a cultural centre. Its strong walls offer splendid walks and
his harbour is very lively. When the big boats came back, and
army of workers help downloading the fish baskets, emptying
on plates and covering them with ice, transporting them to the
waiting trucks, while the sailors prepare ships and nets for
the next exit. Activity never stops, and between fishing times,
workers, fishermen and tourists shared the same grilled fish
in the small stalls nearby.
Skala saw the shooting of Othello by Orson Welles and still
attracts painters and photographs. Medina and mellah are typical,
and many workshops can stop you. Essaouira is known for its
wood inlayers who work with thuja, citrus and rosewood, and
for its silversmiths who took after the Jewish tradition.
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20 kilometres away from Essaouira, by a road edged with Argan
trees, you find Sidi Kaouki, another spot for surfers which was
famous in the sixties as Jimi Hendrix stayed there. Its marabout
faces the sea is decayed but still attractive.
In half an hour by boat you can go to the Purpure Islands where
there is an ornithological reserve and the rests of a former jail,
and where, long time ago, Juba II king of Mauretania Tingitana
set a purpure factory
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Agadir
The name of the city comes from a Berber word meaning wall, village
or fortified granary. At the beginning a fishermen village, it was
fortified by the Ksima tribe, and later used by Portuguese for pirate
raids and smuggling.
In 1505, João Lopes de Sequeira builds a stronghold at the
feet of the hill, to close the access to the harbour and, in 1513,
king Manuel the 1st recognizes this take by buying the stronghold
and installing troops. Agadir was then called Santa Cruz de Cabo
de Aguer (du Cap du Gué) and help to secure gold and slave
trade roads.
Under the lead of the Saadians, the local tribes attack Agadir,
and, on 12th March 1541, after a six-months siege, Portuguese
capitulate and leave Agadir.
When the Alawites arrive, the area goes into rebellion and, as
a punishment, the new dynasty will close Agadir. The city starts
anew with the French in 1913. The most visited tourist resort
in Morocco had at that time less than 7.000 inhabitants !
With the adventure of the Aeropostale, and more than anything
with fishing (Agadir competes with Safi for the title of first
sardine fishing harbour in the world) the town grows quickly,
when everything suddenly stops with the earthquake of 29th February
1960. It killed more than fifteen thousand people, and nearly
destroyed the whole city. From 1962 Agadir is rebuilt, on another
and safer ground. It is now a modern sea resort, international,
where German, English and even Russian signs can be found amidst
French and Arabic ones. It is very lively, and not so different
from what can be found in similar places in France or Spain. Nothing
remains of the Portuguese buildings, and just of few walls of
the old Berber Agadir. |
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| Its yearly 300 sunny days, its 10 kilometres of fine
golden sand attract a lot of people. Many activities are possible,
camel tours, surf, boat tours, golf resorts, spa, … and in
the evening, so many restaurants and clubs make the choice quite
difficult. |
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