The port city of El Jadida is located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, 90 km southwest of Casablanca and is the capital of the province of the same name. This city is primarily known for the preserved ancient Citadel, which UNESCO listed as a World Heritage Site.
In addition, El Jadida (formerly the settlement of Mazagan) was one of the first settlements of Portuguese explorers in West Africa on their way to India. And today it is considered an outstanding example of a mixture of European and Moroccan cultures, which found a colorful reflection in the architecture of the city.
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A bit of history
The first Portuguese settlers were founded in El Jadid in 1502 after the city passed the protection of Portugal from the year 1486 .In 1514, for protection against the Moors, the Portuguese decided to erect a fortress here, which they were able to control until 1769 .Then the fortress passed under the management of the Moroccan sultan Mohammed Abdallah .For the first time the city received its current name in 1832 .During the stay of Morocco under the protectorate of France, the city was called the old name of Mazagan .And only after the independence of Morocco in 1956 did the city gain its name .
How to get
The nearest airports are located in Agadir, Rabat and Casablanca. You can get to El Jadid by bus from Agadir or Rabat, and also by train from Casablanca (travel time 1 hour 30 minutes).
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Beaches of El Jadida
The main beach of El Jadida extends north and south far beyond the city limits and is a fairly wide sandy belt. During the summer season it is crowded. The less popular beach is at the Sidi Kuafi lighthouse, and another quiet beach, Sidi Bouzid beach, is located 2 km southwest of El Jadida.
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Entertainment, excursions and attractions of El Jadida
To date, the citadel has completely preserved four bastions - the bastion of Angel in the east, the bastion of St. Sebastian in the north, the bastion of Saint Antoine in the west and the bastion of the Holy Spirit in the south. From the fifth, the bastion of the Governor, located at the main entrance, now there are only ruins.
The construction of the citadel began in 1514 by the project of the brothers Francisco and Diogo de Arruda, who also worked on erecting other fortifications in the Moroccan medina .In 1541, after the loss of Agadir, the citadel was decided to strengthen an additional ring of fortifications, the design of which was entrusted to the team of engineers-architects - Portuguese Joao Ribeiro, Spaniard Juan Castillo and Italian Benedetto Ravenna .By the end of the century, responding to the demands of religious confrontation, 4 churches and several chapels were built on the territory of the citadel .
Once the citadel had three gates: the Sea Gate, which formed a small port from the north-eastern shaft; The bull gate from the north-western ramparts, and the main gate from the south wall, through which you could enter the fortress by the drawbridge
The cisterns were almost a square room with three rooms on the north, east and south sides and four round towers. In the center of the room was another hall, partially underground, where water flowed through the canal system leading from the citadel.
After the occupation, which lasted more than two and a half centuries and according to the peace treaty with the Sultan Mohammed bin Abdullah, the Portuguese were forced to leave the fortress. Before leaving, they mined the main gate, which resulted in the death of many Moroccans, and destroyed the bastion of the Governor and most of the southern shaft, and the city for more than half a century remained uninhabited.
In the mid-19th century, Sultan Moulay Abderrakhman ordered the restoration of the lost parts of the fortifications and the erection of a mosque with the aim of reviving the "dead" city.Now in the town square directly in front of the Church of the Assumption you can see a mosque from the 19th century, the minaret of which was adapted to one of the four towers of El Jadida cisterns. In addition, the religious buildings preserved the chapel of St. Sebastian, located in the same bastion.