Essaouira

Essaouira Is Among The Imperial Cities In Morocco

Essaouira (formerly known as Mogador by the Portuguese, in Arabic: الصويرة aṣ-Ṣawîrah, in tachelhit: ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵕⵜ Taṣṣuṛt) is a port city and a commune of Morocco, capital of the province of Eraksfira Sawira, . It is located on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and has 77,966 inhabitants in 2014.

Although the Essaouira region has been inhabited discontinuously since antiquity by the Phoenicians, by the Berbers at the time of Juba II and then by the Romans, it was not until the sixteenth century that the site was truly occupied by the Portuguese, who in 1506 built a fortress, the Castelo Real, and ramparts quickly abandoned in the face of fierce resistance from the local population.

The foundation of the city of Essaouira itself will be the work of Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah, who launched its construction from 1760 and made an original experiment by entrusting it to several renowned architects, in particular Théodore Cornut, who traced the plan of the city, and with the mission of building a city adapted to the needs of foreign merchants. Once built, it continued to grow and experienced a golden age and exceptional development, becoming the country’s most important commercial port but also its diplomatic capital between the end of the 18th century and the first half of the 19th century. It is also becoming a multicultural and artistic city.

The situation of the city deteriorated considerably between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century following the bombardment it suffered in 1844 and then with the installation of the French protectorate in 1912. It lost its importance and no longer is more the international port and the diplomatic capital of the country. After independence, the departure of the Jewish community also caused very significant economic damage to the city.

However, since the end of the 20th century, Essaouira has experienced a spectacular renaissance due mainly to tourism, but also to its cultural vocation. The medina of Essaouira has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.

Toponymy

Essaouira knows several names but most remain uncertain and their etymologies speculative. It is possible that the Phoenician counter of the Purpuraires Islands is the « Arambys » cited around the 5th century BC. J.-C. by the explorer Hanno, taking its name from a Phoenician root Har Anbin, which means « hill of grapes »2, but some authors believe that it could rather be « Cerné » (or Kerne ), an island whose discovery closed the first voyage of the explorer, a hypothesis that is however widely contested, given the numerous candidate sites3.

In the 2nd century, the ancient historian Ptolemy mentions the existence of a locality on the Atlantic coast of Mauretania Tingitane called « Tamusiga » by the Romans and located between the « promontory of Hercules » and that of « Ursinum », without knowing its precise location, but which some commentators refer to the site of Essaouira, while more recent research leans more towards a more southern site called « Suriga » by the Roman historian4.

In the eleventh century, the historian and geographer of al-Andalus Abu Obeid el-Bekri mentions a certain « Amogdoul ». This name may have a Semitic origin, coming from the Punic « Migdol » or « Mogdoul » (MGDL) which means « fortified place » or « watchtower », like ancient sites on the Syrian-Lebanese coast5.

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