El Jadida – Mazagão
El Jadida – MazagãoFor a Portuguese, a visit to El Jadida is a meeting with our history, so many are the traces of Portuguese presence in that area of the world. For the other visitors… well, it’s another Moroccan town, with well preserved signs of Portuguese occupation. And it’s interesting, anyway, and that was the basis of its recognition as UNESCO heritage in 2004.
The surviving Portuguese buildings include the cistern and the Church of the Assumption, built in the Manueline style of late Gothic architecture. The Portuguese City of Mazagan – one of the early settlements of the Portuguese explorers in West Africa on the route to India – is an outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures, well reflected in architecture, technology, and town planning.”
Portuguese Cistern
After the fortress, this cistern is the greatest Portuguese edification in El Jadida. And it is an interesting and cool visit.
What will the teachers tell about us, the portuguese, to the many scholar children that we noticed visiting it? Will they mention that the cistern was made in 1514 by the Portuguese, as part of the fort, and later used as cistern, with one thousand square meters, and beautiful arcades?
Will they tell that its beauty attracted the cinema, from Orson Welles to Coppola, and other?
They should, because… it’s true.
Citadel
From 1506 to 1769 this town was portuguese, under the name of Mazagão. In 2004 it was classified as world heritage by UNESCO, that writes about it:
“The Portuguese fortification of Mazagan, now part of the city of El Jadida, 90 km southwest of Casablanca, was built as a fortified colony on the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century. It was taken over by the Moroccans in 1769. The fortification with its bastions and ramparts is an early example of Renaissance military design.
