PORTUGUESE CITY

The Portuguese fortifications of Mazagan, which today are part of the city of El Jadida, 100km southwest of Casablanca, were built as a fortified colony on the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century.

The colony was taken over by the Moroccans in 1769.

The fortifications, with their bastions and ramparts, are an early example of Portuguese military architecture of the Renaissance.

The Portuguese buildings still visible are the Portuguese cistern, the Portuguese fortress of Mazagan and the Church of the Assumption, built in the Manueline style and which is now used as a theatre.

The Portuguese city of Mazagan, one of the first settlements in West Africa of Portuguese explorers en route to India, offers an exceptional testimony to the cross influences between European and Moroccan cultures, which appear clearly in architecture, technology and urban planning. It is today a source of pride for the Jdidis for its classification as a UNESCO World Heritage site.

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