Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014.
The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of the Moroccan 'Alawid sultan Mohammed bin Abdallah, who made an original experiment by entrusting it to several architects in 1760, in particular Théodore Cornut and Ahmed al-Inglizi, who designed the city using French captives from the failed French expedition to Larache in 1765, 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.
The Medina of Essaouira was designated by the UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 2001.
Name and etymology The name of the city is usually spelled Essaouira in Latin script, and in Arabic script. Both spellings represent its name in Moroccan Arabic, aṣ-Ṣwiṛa. This is the diminutiveOn the formation of diminutive nouns in Moroccan Arabic, see R.S. Harrell, A short reference grammar of Moroccan Arabic (Washington, D.C., 1962), p. 81. (with definite article) of the noun ṣuṛ which means "wall (as round a yard, city), rampart".See T. Fox and M. Abu-Talib, A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic (Washington, D.C., 1966), p. 148. The pronunciation with pharyngealized and is a typically Moroccan development. In Classical Arabic, the noun is sūr (, with plain and ), diminutive suwayrah (); this is the only form cited in all dictionaries of Classical Arabic. Hence, the spelling of the name in Arabic script according to the classical pronunciation is as-Suwayrah (with sīn not ṣād).
Until the 1960s, Essaouira was generally known by its Portuguese name, Mogador. This name is probably a corruption of Amegdul (), which was mentioned by the 11th-century geographer al-Bakrī.Mac Guckin de Slane (ed. and transl.), Description de l'Afrique septentrionale par el-Bekri (Alger 1913), Arabic text p. 86 marsá Ameqdūl "the port of Ameqdūl", translation p. 175 Amegdoul (Amegdul), with footnote: "Le tombeau ou chapelle de Sîdi Megdoul est situé tout auprès de Mogador; ce dernier est une altération de Megdoul". The name Mogador originated from the Phoenician word Migdol, meaning 'small fortress'.
History Archaeological research shows that Essaouira has been occupied since prehistoric times. The bay at Essaouira is partially sheltered by the island of Mogador, making it a peaceful harbor protected against strong marine winds.
Antiquity Essaouira has long been considered one of the best anchorages of the Moroccan coast. The Carthaginian navigator Hanno visited in the 5th century BCE and established the trading post of Arambys.
Around the end of the 1st century BCE or early 1st century CE, the Berber king of Mauretania Juba II established a Tyrian purple factory, processing the murex and purpura shells found in the intertidal rocks at Essaouira and the Iles Purpuraires. This dye colored the purple stripe in the togas worn by the Senators of Imperial Rome.
A Roman villa was excavated on Mogador island.Marokko Ingeborg Lehmann, Rita Henss p.243 A Roman vase was found as well as coinage from the 3rd century CE. Most of the artifacts are now visible in the Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum and the Rabat Archaeological Museum.
Early modern period
During the Middle Ages, a Muslim saint named Sidi Mogdoul was buried in Essaouira, probably giving its origin to the name "Mogador".
Portuguese establishment (1506–1510)
In 1506, the king of Portugal, D. Manuel I, ordered a fortress to be built there, named Castelo Real de Mogador. Altogether, the Portuguese are documented to have seized six Moroccan towns and built six stand-alone fortresses on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, between the river Loukos in the north and the river of Sous in the south. Four of them only had a short duration: Graciosa (1489), São João da Mamora (1515), Castelo Real of Mogador (1506–1510) and Aguz (1520–1525). Two became permanent urban settlements: Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué (modern Agadir, founded in 1505–06), and Mazagan, founded in 1514–1517. Following the 1541 Fall of Agadir, the Portuguese had to abandon most of their settlements between 1541 and 1550, although they were able to keep Ceuta, Tangier and Mazagan.James D. Tracy, City walls: the urban enceinte in global perspective, p.352
The fortress of Castelo Real of Mogador fell to the local resistance of the Regraga fraternity four years after its establishment, in 1510.
During the 16th century, powers including Spain, England, the Netherlands and France tried in vain to conquer the locality. Essaouira remained a haven for the export of sugar and molasses and as an anchorage for pirates.Notes to The History and Description of Africa and of the Notable Things Therein by Leo Africanus, p.338
De Razilly expedition (1629)
France was involved in an early attempt to colonize Mogador in 1629. As Richelieu and Père Joseph were attempting to establish a colonial policy, Admiral Isaac de Razilly suggested they occupy Mogador in 1626, which he had reconnoitered in 1619. The objective was to create a base against the Sultan of Morocco and asphyxiate the harbour of Safi.
He departed for Salé on 20 July 1629 with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne, Saint-Louis, Griffon, Catherine, Hambourg, Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean. He bombarded the city of Salé, destroyed three corsair ships, and then sent the Griffon under Captain Treillebois to Mogador. The men of Razilly saw the fortress of Castelo Real in Mogador and landed 100 men with wood and supplies on Mogador island, with the agreement of Richelieu. After a few days, however, the Griffon reembarked the colonists and departed to rejoin the fleet in Salé.E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913–1936, Volume 9 by Martijn Theodoor Houtsma, p.549
After these expeditions, France signed a treaty with Abd el-Malek II in 1631, giving France preferential treatment, known as "capitulations": preferential tariffs, the establishment of a Consulate, and freedom of religion for French subjects.France in the age of Louis XIII and Richelieu by Victor Lucien Tapié p.259
Foundation of modern Essaouira (1760–1770)
The present city of Essaouira was built during the mid-eighteenth century by the Moroccan King. Mohammed III tried to reorient his kingdom toward the Atlantic for increased exchanges with European powers, choosing Mogador as his key location. One of his objectives was to establish a harbour at the closest possible point to Marrakesh.The Anglo American, Volume 3 by Alexander D. Paterson p.521 The other was to cut off trade from Agadir in the south, which had been favouring a political rival of Mohammed III, and the inhabitants of Agadir were forced to relocate to Essaouira.
For 12 years, Mohammed III directed a French engineer, Théodore Cornut, and several other Moroccan and European architects and technicians to build the fortress and city along modern lines.Of Essaouira: "He employed European architects to design it, one a Frenchman said to be his prisoner, and the other an Englishman, converted to Islam and known as Ahmed el-Inglizi— otherwise Ahmed the Englishman." in Morocco, Dorothy Hales Gary, Baron Patrick Balfour Kinross, Viking Press, 1971, p.35 Originally called "Souira" ("the small fortress"), the name became "Es-Saouira" ("the beautifully designed").
Thédore Cornut designed and built the city itself, particularly the Kasbah area, corresponding to the royal quarters and the buildings for Christian merchants and diplomats. Other parts were built by other architects, including Moroccan architects especially from Fez, Marrakesh, and Rabat. The harbour entrance, with the "Porte de la Marine", was built by an English renegade by the name of Ahmed el Inglizi ("Ahmed the English") or Ahmed El Alj ("Ahmed the Renegade"). Mohammed III took numerous steps to encourage the development of Essaouira including closing off the harbour of Agadir to the south in 1767 so that southern trade could be redirected through Essaouira. European communities in the northern harbour of Rabat-Salé were ordered to move to Essaouira through an ordinance of 21 January 1765.
From the time of its rebuilding by Muhammad III until the end of the nineteenth century, Essaouira served as Morocco's principal port, offering the goods of the caravan trade to the world. The route brought goods from sub-Saharan Africa to Timbuktu, then through the desert and over the Atlas Mountains to Marrakesh. The road from Marrakesh to Essaouira is a straight line, explaining the king's choice of this port among the many others along the Moroccan coast.
Jewish presence
Mohammed III encouraged Moroccan Jews to settle in the town and handle the trade with Europe. Jews once comprised the majority of the population. According to a French botanist visiting in 1867, Jews comprised half of Essaouira's population of 12,000. The city flourished until the caravan trade died, superseded by direct European shipping trade with sub-Saharan Africa.The Sultan's Jew: Morocco and the Sephardi World by Daniel J. Schroeter, pp. 17 ff Changes in trade, the founding of Israel, the resulting wars with Arab states, and the independence of Morocco all resulted in Sephardic Jews leaving the country. As of 2017, Essaouira had only three Jewish inhabitants.
The Jewish quarter, called the mellah, contains many old synagogues. The town also has a large Jewish cemetery. On 15 January 2020, King Mohammed VI visited Bayt Dakira, a Jewish heritage house, in Essaouira.
In May 2025, the last Jewish resident of Essaouira, Josef Sebag, died.
European trade and diplomacy
In the 19th century, Essaouira became the first seaport of Morocco, with trade volumes about double those of Rabat.The Anglo American, Volume 3 by Alexander D. Paterson p.520 ff The city functioned as the harbour for Marrakesh, as it was only a few days from the inland city.The sultan's Jew: Morocco and the Sephardi world by Daniel J. Schroeter, p.125 Diplomatic and trade representations were established by European powers in Essouira.The sultan's Jew: Morocco and the Sephardi world by Daniel J. Schroeter p.17 In the 1820s, European diplomats were concentrated in either Tangier or Essaouira.The sultan's Jew: Morocco and the Sephardi world by Daniel J. Schroeter, p.121
French interventions and Protectorate
Following Morocco's alliance with Algeria's Abd-El-Kader against France, Essaouira was bombarded and briefly occupied by the French Navy under the Prince de Joinville on 16 August 1844, in the Bombardment of Mogador, an important battle of the First Franco-Moroccan War.
Bombardment by the Confederate States Navy (1864) In the spring of 1864, the commerce raider of the Confederate States of America's Navy arrived off of the coast of the City as a reprieve from a hard winter's sail. Upon arrival, the crew were able to lower a cutter and bend oars towards the shore. Upon landing, the crew was greeted by hostile Moroccans who knew both who they were and that their government was hostile towards them, despite spoken neutrality. The officers were then forced, at gunpoint back towards the sea and into the boats from which they arrived. Back on the ship, Captain Matthew Fontaine Maury ordered a shot from the Georgia's ten inch turret gun, followed by a salvo bombardment. No Moroccan casualties were recorded, due to their retreat from the shore during the initial shot fired. This marked the only time that Confederate guns were fired anywhere besides North America.
French colonial empire