ESSAOUIRA

ESSAOUIRA

Essaouira, the charming harbor and lively resort overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, is a maze of streets and architecture of Portuguese, French and Berber style. Not far away, lovers and families along the beaches of Cape Sim and Sidi Kaouki, which also attract surfers of all kinds. It is also a haven for relaxation. Culture lovers, do not forget to spend a day in Marrakech: a bus will take you there.
Essaouira is an exceptional example of a fortified city in the late eighteenth century, built in North Africa according to the principles of European military architecture of the time. Since its founding, it has been a port of international trade first, linking Morocco and its Saharan hinterland with Europe and the rest of the world.
The medina of Essaouira, formerly known as Mogador (name from the Phoenician word Migdol means "small fortress"), is an outstanding example of a fortified city in the mid-eighteenth century, surrounded by a wall of Vauban style. Built in North Africa according to the principles of European military architecture of the time, in perfect combination with the precepts of architecture and urbanism Arab-Muslim, she played for centuries, the role of harbor International leading trade between Morocco and sub-Saharan Africa to Europe and the rest of the world. The city also offers an example of a multicultural center as demonstrated coexistence, from its inception, various ethnic groups such as the Amazigh, Arabs, Africans, Europeans and multi (Muslims, Christians and Jews). Inseparable from the Medina, Mogador archipelago comprises a large number of cultural and natural sites of outstanding universal value. Its relatively late compared to other foundation medinas of North Africa was the work of Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah Alawi (1757-1790) who wanted to make this small town a Royal Atlantic port and capital of the Moroccan trade with the outside. Long known as the Port of Timbuktu, Essaouira became one of the cornerstones of Atlantic trade between Africa and Europe in the late eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century.