Touristic sites

El Jadida, the capital of the province of the same name, is one of the most beautiful Moroccan coastal cities. Shaped as a peninsula, it is surrounded, for the most part, by the Atlantic Ocean waters. The city is located about 100 km south of Casablanca and 200 km northwest of Marrakech. Due to its mild climate and beautiful beach, it was qualified by Marshal Lyautey, on July 9, 1913, as the Moroccan Deauville in reference to the Normandy seaside resort of France, the Deauville. It is currently home to about one million residents.

Before its occupation by the Portuguese at the beginning of the 16th century, in the year 1514, its history remained unknown. For some authors, it is likely that the city was an ancient Phoenician trading center known as "Portus Rusibis" which was, undoubtedly, founded before the famous voyage of the Carthaginian admiral Hanno in the middle of the 5th century BC. This place (Rusibis) is mentioned, 150 BC, by the Greek navigator Polybe (200 - 120 BC), by Pliny the Elder (23 - 79) and by the geographer Ptolemy (100 - 170). When Portuguese arrived, they found there a small ruined castle, which the locals called "Borj Cheikh" or "Breija" and which was, probably, used to watch over the  Doukkala coasts.

The importance of the urban agglomeration of the place, before the arrival of the Portuguese, is still much disputed. In the manuscript containing enlightening tales relating to the Holy ruler of Azemmour, Moulay Bouchaïb Erradad who lived in the twelfth century, the place is described there as a fishing village located between the town of Azemmour and Ribat Tit (today known as Moulay Abdallah). The city and anchorage of "Mazighane" was also mentioned, in 1154, by the Moroccan geographer and traveler Al-Idrisi in his Book "Excursion of who is eager to penetrate the horizons" (also called "Book of Roger", in reference to the Sicilian king Roger II who supported his work in geography).

Around 1508, Duarté Pachecco points out that at the edge of this bay (El Jadida) was, formerly, the city of Mazighane, while the German Valentin Ferdinand who wrote at the same time (1508), speaks more modestly of a town, which was completely destroyed and depopulated. However, the "port" anchorage of Mazagan is indicated on a whole series of European planispheres (including those made, for the first time in the history of geography, by al-Idrisi) and portolans from the 14th and 15th centuries under different names : Masegan (1339 and 1373) and Maseghan in 1367.

Since antiquity, El Jadida has had several names. It is the only Moroccan city that has seen its name change frequently depending on the masters of the place. Thus, the city was called  :

• • Portus Rusibis by the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians and the Romans.

  • Mazighane by the Berbers of Masmouda and Senhaja.

  • Borj Cheikh or El Breija (diminutive of Borj or guet) by the Arab tribes of the Doukkala.

  • Mazagão by the Portuguese in 1505.

  • Castello Real then São Jorge by the Portuguese from 1509 to 1514.

  • El Breija then  El Mahdouma ("the Destroyed"; by the Moroccans because of the devastation caused by the explosion of mines placed by the Portuguese before they left the city in 1769).

  • El Jadida ("the new one") since 1816 after its reconstruction by sultan Sidi Abderrahmane.

  • Mazagan under the French protectorate (1912-1956)

  • El Jadida since independence in 1956.

Like other historic Moroccan cities, El Jadida has a set of assets including tourist sites that are just waiting to be visited and discovered. Among these sites : 

This is the ancient Portuguese city of Mazagão which is often referred to as Mellah, because the Jews were the most numerous inhabitants there. Although this historical landmark represents, at the present time, only a small district of El Jadida, it constitutes the main tourist attraction which testifies to the cultural and religious mix of this city. Indeed, one of the characteristics of Mazagão was the cohabitation in perfect harmony of the three monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism). It should be noted that, since 2004, this city is included in the Unesco "World Heritage list".