Essaouira

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Essaouira
الصويرة
ⵎⵓⴳⴰⴹⵓⵔ
Essaouira coat of arms
Essaouira (Morocco)
Essaouira
Essaouira
Basic data
State : MoroccoMorocco Morocco
Region : Marrakech-Safi
Province : Essaouira
Coordinates 31 ° 31 ′  N , 9 ° 46 ′  W Coordinates: 31 ° 31 ′  N , 9 ° 46 ′  W
Residents : 77,966 (2014)
Area : 90 km²
Population density : 866 inhabitants per km²
Height : 10  m
View of the medina
View of the medina

Essaouira ( Arabic الصويرة, DMG aṣ-Ṣawīra  'The Included', Taschelhit ⵎⵓⴳⴰⴹⵓⵔ Mugaḍur ) is a port city with about 85,000 inhabitants on the Moroccan Atlantic coast in the province of the same name in the Marrakech-Safi region . Before the independence of Morocco, the city was also called Mogador . This name probably goes back to the Portuguese and is only used today for the offshore island. The entire old town ( medina ) of Essaouira was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2001 .

location

Essaouira is connected to Agadir to the south via the winding N 1 (distance about 175 km) and to Marrakech to the east via the N 8 and the R 207 (distance also about 175 km).

traffic

The Mogador Airport is located about 15 kilometers southeast of the city center and can be reached with a bus. From the bus station there are numerous, sometimes regular, connections to all major cities in the country.

Population and economy

Most of the population, who immigrated from the Berber villages of southern Morocco, speaks Moroccan Arabic and the local Berber dialects of Taschelhit . The town's main livelihoods are fishing (mainly sardines and eel) and tourism. Due to its mild winter to hot summer climate, Essaouira is mainly visited by tourists from the Moroccan cities, but also has increasing numbers of visitors from Europe , with the French in the majority.

history

The place was a Phoenician foundation under the name Migdol , which was later ruled by the Punic (under Hanno II ) and the Romans . Excavations since the 1950s show an early Phoenician settlement from the 7th century BC. Historical sources suggest that this could be the 'purple island' mentioned by Pliny .

The city and island of Mogador are a research focus of the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid. Together with the exploration of the Spanish and Portuguese west coast, the area is examined for the activities of the Phoenicians , who already controlled trade with West and South Africa here. Recent excavations suggest that the Islas de Mogador (also Islas Purpurinas ), located in the Bay of Essaouira , was a Phoenician outpost of the ancient world. The Phoenicians are said to have bred purple snails here. But the legacies of the Neolithic Age are also being investigated, and a large number of so-called Escargotières were found - heaps of rubbish made of clam remains, snail shells, charcoal and other evidence that the people of the Neolithic age lived on seafood. A new excavation campaign was planned for 2007 on the island of Mogador and the mainland opposite.

  • Port Gate ( Porte de la Marine )

  • Harbor wall with tower ( Scala du Port )

  • City wall by the sea ( Scala de la Kasbah )

  • Old town

The west Moroccan coast belonged to the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana with the capital Volubilis . In 429 AD the Vandals conquered the north of the province, which was then taken in 533 by the Eastern Roman general Belisarius . Between the 7th and 10th centuries, several regional Berber tribes joined the rule of the Arab Umayyads , who also ruled southern Spain . In the 11th century, the time of the Almoravids , Yusuf ibn Tashfin (ruled 1070–1106), the founder of Marrakech , integrated the region around Essaouira into his empire.

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Portuguese conquered some areas on the Moroccan Atlantic coast. In 1506 the Portuguese occupied the offshore island and immediately began building the fortifications and port facilities that are still visible today. The name of the fortress, Mogador , is said to have been chosen by the Portuguese with respect for the Islamic saint Sidi Mogdul, who is still venerated as the city's patron saint. Legend has it that he was originally a Scot named Mac Donald, who once settled here, was revered during his lifetime and posthumously raised to a marabout . As early as 1510, the Portuguese gave up the exposed base and cleared the fortress. During the 16th century, various powers such as Spain, England, the Netherlands and France tried in vain to conquer Essaouira. From 1628, Sultan Mulai Abdelmalek from the Saadian dynasty continued the expansion of the fortifications. In 1765, the Alawid Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah began expanding Essaouira to become - in his time - the largest seaport in Morocco. The French prisoner Théodore Cornut was entrusted with the planning of the fortress structures and individual parts of the city.

In the 18th and 19th centuries Essaouira expanded its important position as a hub in the caravan trade and achieved considerable prosperity. After the French occupation of Timbuktu in 1893, the city lost its importance over the course of the 20th century, as its main trade connections were interrupted.

In the post-1967 period, the city was a destination for many hippies ; Jimi Hendrix also stayed in the area for a few days.

Attractions

Scala de la Kasbah

The medina of Essaouira, laid out in the 18th century, with its largely symmetrical floor plan, straight streets and two city gates, which is completely atypical for Morocco, was included in the UNESCO list of world cultural heritage in 2001. A collection of cannons (bronze and iron) from the 17th and 18th centuries stands on the Scala de la Kasbah facing the sea . In the fishing port, ships are still made of wood in the traditional manner, nets are mended and fishing lines are equipped with bait.

The Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah Museum contains a collection of weapons, coins, clothing, musical instruments, jewelry and handicrafts (including carpets and objects made from “Thuya” wood). It provides information about the history of the city and its surroundings as well as the flora and fauna of the region (e.g. about the argan tree ). A specialty of the local handicrafts is the production of art, utensils and ornaments from the wood of the sandarak tree , which is also called "Thuya de Barbarie" in French. The city is home to several art galleries - mostly with works by Moroccan artists.

The 11th century Muslim saint ( marabout ) Sidi Mogdoul is venerated in a mausoleum. A lighthouse named after him was put into operation in 1916. There is a Sunday service in the Catholic Church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption .

The island of Mogador is a bird sanctuary where the rare Eleanor's falcons breed from April to October . It may not be entered all year round.

Culture

music

The Gnawa Music Festival has been held in Essaouira every June since 1998 . In their traditional music, which outside the festival has a therapeutic function in the nocturnal Derdeba dance ritual, and for street processions, the Gnawa musicians and dancers play the plucked gimbri , the drum t'bol and the iron rattles Qarqaba .

Movie

Orson Welles shot his film adaptation of the Othello material in Essaouira in 1952 . Ridley Scott reconstructed here in 2004, the medieval Jerusalem for his movie Kingdom of Heaven ( Kingdom of Heaven ). Since 2013, from the third season onwards, Essaouira has been one of the filming locations for the fantasy series Game of Thrones .

leisure

There are several beaches in the vicinity of the city, which also offer opportunities for surfing .

Town twinning

Essaouira has partnerships with the following cities:

sons and daughters of the town

literature

  • Adventure archeology. Spectrum of Science Verl.-Ges., Heidelberg 2006,1,90, ISSN  1612-9954 .
  • Arnold Betten: Morocco. Antiquity, Berber Traditions and Islam - History, Art and Culture in the Maghreb. DuMont, Ostfildern 2012, p. 317f, ISBN 978-3-7701-3935-4 .
  • Ingeborg Lehmann, Rita Henss: Morocco. Karl Baedeker, Ostfildern 2009, pp. 237–245, ISBN 978-3-8297-1251-4 .
  • Doris Byer: Essaouira, finally . Literaturverlag Droschl, Graz 2004, ISBN 978-3-85420-651-4 .

Web links

Commons : Essaouira  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Population statistics Morocco ( Memento from July 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
  3. ^ Dirce Marzoli, Abdelaziz El Khayari: Mogador (Essaouira), Morocco. A Phoenician outpost on the Moroccan Atlantic coast. The work up to 2018. In: Electronic publications of the German Archaeological Institute, No. 1, 2018, pp. 72–75
  4. ^ Hubert Lang : The cult of saints in Morocco. Forms and functions of pilgrimages. (Passau Mediterranean Studies, Special Series 3) Passavia Universitätsverlag, Passau 1992, p. 71
  5. ↑ Brigitte Tast, Hans-Juergen Tast: And the wind cries Jimi. Hendrix in Morocco , googly eyes - visual communication No. 40, Schellerten 2012, ISBN 978-3-88842-040-5
  6. ↑ Jan Kalserud: The tomb of Sidi Magdoul. essaouira.nu; The lighthouse of Sidi Mogdoul . essaouira.nu
  7. ^ Festival d'Essaouira Gnaoua 2012. festival-gnaoua.net
  8. ^ Brigitte Tast, Hans-Jürgen Tast: Orson Welles - Othello - Mogador. Stays in Essaouira . Googly eyes Vis.Come. No. 42, Schellerten 2013, ISBN 978-3-88842-042-9