El Jadida

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El Jadida
الجديدة
ⴰⵍ-ⵊⴰⴷⵉⴷⴰ
El Jadida does not have a coat of arms
El Jadida (Morocco)
El Jadida
El Jadida
Basic data
State : MoroccoMorocco Morocco
Region : Casablanca Settat
Province : El Jadida
Coordinates 33 ° 15 ′  N , 8 ° 30 ′  W Coordinates: 33 ° 15 ′  N , 8 ° 30 ′  W
Residents : 194,934 (2014)
Height : 5  m
View of the Cité Portugaise
View of the Cité Portugaise
View of the Cité Portugaise from El Jadida

El Jadida ( Arabic الجديدة, DMG al-Ǧadīda , dialectal: ž-Ždīda ; Tamazight ⴰⵍ-ⵊⴰⴷⵉⴷⴰ ), formerly called Mazighen ( Arabic مازيغن, Berber ⵎⴰⵣⵉⴳⴻⵏ ), al-Breyja ( Arabic البريجة), Mazagan (مازاگان, Berber ⵎⴰⵣⴰⴳⴰⵏ, French : Mazagan , Portuguese : Mazagão ), and al-Mahdouma ( Arabic المهدومة), is a Moroccan port city with approx. 200,000 inhabitants on the Atlantic Ocean and the administrative seat of the province of the same name . The Portuguese town ( Cité Portugaise ) was established in 2004 to UNESCO - World Heritage collected.

location

El Jadida is located in the historical region of Doukkala on a sheltered bay on the Atlantic . The distance to Casablanca , the largest city in Morocco, is a good 100 km (driving distance) in a north-easterly direction; the southwestern port city of Safi is about 140 km away. The maritime climate, influenced by the Atlantic, is moderate and already significantly less rainy than in Rabat .

population

year 1994 2004 2014
Residents 119.083 144,440 194.934

The majority of the population is of Berber descent and immigrated from the surrounding mountain regions after the independence of Morocco. Most of the time, however, Moroccan Arabic is spoken .

economy

El Jadida, with its port of Jorf Lasfar located around 15 km southwest, is an important trading center in the region. In Jorf Lasfar is the Emaphos - phosphoric acid plant ( 33 ° 6 '41.3 "  N , 8 ° 36' 21.4"  W ). Fishing, fertilizer production and phosphate export are important. Locals appreciate El Jadida as a seaside resort. The Cité Portugaise attracts foreign visitors.

history

It is unclear whether the history of the place can be traced back to the Phoenician-Carthaginian settlement of Rusibi mentioned in Roman writings - no corresponding archaeological finds have been made so far. The Berber tribes living in the region called the place Mazighen ( مــازيغن in Arabic script), from which the name Mazagan (or Mazagão in Portuguese ) is derived. In the 12th century the Berber tribes were driven out by the Almohad Sultan Abd al-Mumin ; instead, loyal Arab tribal groups were settled there - the current Arab name of the city comes from this period: El Jadida ('the new one').

To secure the water and food supplies for their ships on the sea ​​route to India , the Portuguese founded a base here at the end of the 15th century, which was expanded into a port fortress under the name Mazagão in 1514 . In the years 1541–1548, the small fort was given a completely new design under the direction of the architects João Ribeiro, Juan Castillo and Benedetto da Ravenna.

In 1769, after repeated attacks by Berber tribes and troops of Moroccan sultans, which were initially successfully fended off, the city was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Many Portuguese emigrated to Brazil and founded the settlement Nova Mazagão (today: Mazagão ) in what is now the state of Amapá . In 1821, Jews displaced from Azemmour were resettled within the city walls. During the French protectorate (1912-1956) the city was named Mazagan . After Morocco gained independence, the city was renamed El Jadida again.

Attractions

The Cîterne Portugaise , with its 4 inner columns and 12 outer pillars, which together support a ribbed vault , creates an almost sacred atmosphere.
Chapel of the St. Sebastian corner bastion
  • The Portuguese fortifications from the 15th-18th centuries Century with its corner bastions and sloping walls are considered to be an important example of military architecture of the Renaissance .
  • Several churches and chapels are from the 17th and 18th centuries. Century.
  • Particularly noteworthy is the rib-vaulted Cîterne Portugaise , a former arsenal that was later used as a water storage ( cistern ) for the fortified city.
Surroundings
  • The old city of Tit (today Moulay Abdallah ), founded by the Almohads in the 12th century, is located about 12 km southwest of El Jadida and still has two minarets from this time as well as remains of the stone (not rammed earth ) city wall. Once a year, on the first weekend in August, one of the largest pilgrimage festivals ( moussem ) in Morocco with equestrian games ( fantasia ) takes place in the small town of Moulay Abdellah . For a week tens of thousands camp in tents along the beach.
  • Also known are the beaches of Sidi Bouzid a few kilometers southwest and Haouzia and Azemmour in the northeast. In the high season in summer, the city is almost bursting at the seams. Especially Moroccans from the north and inland spend their holidays here.
  • The road towards Settat goes through the village of Boulaouane . About 10 km outside is - in the midst of a largely untouched hilly landscape - a kasbah founded by Mulai Ismail in the early 18th century to better control the Berber tribes .

Town twinning

Street in the medina

sons and daughters of the town

literature

  • Arnold Betten: Morocco - Antiquity, Berber Traditions and Islam. History, art and culture in the Maghreb. DuMont, Ostfildern 2012, p. 324ff, ISBN 978-3-7701-3935-4

Web links

Commons : El Jadida  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Population statistics Morocco ( Memento from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Entry on the website of the UNESCO World Heritage Center ( English and French ).
  3. ↑ El Jadida - climate tables
  4. ↑ population history . In: Richard Konetzke : South and Central America I. The Indian cultures of ancient America and the Spanish-Portuguese colonial rule (= Fischer Weltgeschichte . Volume 22). Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1965, p. 73.