Just as the the Spanish did in the pastPortuguese footprint in Morocco, of commercial and military expansion centuries ago..
Descubrirla supone una agradable sorpresa, por lo que en este post te mostramos los principales ejemplos que puedes encontrar en el país y que, en muchos casos, forman parte de nuestros circuitos.
Moroccan Essaouira… Portuguese Mogador
If there is a city where the Portuguese footprint in Morocco is best appreciated, it is Essaouira… although the Portuguese know it by the name they gave it when they founded it in 1506: Mogador.
La concibieron como un enclave estratégico que facilitara la progresión de sus navíos hacia el sur, por la ruta hacia las Indias bordeando África.
Por ello, construyeron una gran fortressknown as Skala.
Sus lienzos de muralla y baluartes defensivos tienen el estilo típico de los castillos lusos, de gran sobriedad.
And although the Portuguese had to abandon this enclave shortly after, in the same century, the subsequent expansions of the city by Moroccan sultans preserved this entire seafront, given its usefulness and stability, so that the medina was attached to it.
El Jadida, the most ‘Portuguese’ Moroccan city on the Atlantic Ocean
On the Moroccan Atlantic coast are located other cities with a striking Portuguese footprint, as the sailors of that country needed to rely on other ports for their routes.
Thus flourished Mazagan in the sixteenth century, which was renamed El Jadida (the New, in Arabic) from the eighteenth century, when it fell under Moroccan rule.
Here, as in Essaouira, a historic Portuguese fortress is preserved, but in addition two fantastic Portuguese constructions are added.
On the one hand, the Church of Our Lady of the AssumptionThe Renaissance style church is still standing, although it functions as a hotel and not as a catholic temple. On the other hand, the Portuguese Cisterna great engineering work that stored water in the subsoil.
All this, along with other Portuguese vestiges of the historic center, is protected by UNESCO through the site called “Portuguese City of Mazagan”.
Other cities with Portuguese influence
Without leaving the Atlantic coast, it is possible to reach other cities that maintain a certain Portuguese imprint.
The northernmost is AsilahWith a fortress reminiscent of the Skala: not in vain, it was built in the time of Alfonso V of Portugal, known as the African for its expansionism by this continent, and in particular by Morocco.
Its Puerta del Mar and its seafront are among the most photographed of the city.
Further south, between El Jadida and Essaouira, you will find SafiThe remains of a cathedral that was never completed, but which allows us to understand the predominant style of the time: the Manueline Gothic style, promoted by the king of the time, Manuel I.
Other Portuguese-Moroccan connections
The Portuguese expansionist zeal, initiated in the 15th century, was maintained during a good part of the 16th century, rivaling the Spanish expansion towards America and Africa.
For this reason, there are other episodes that bear the Portuguese stamp on Moroccan soil.
Conquests, reconquests, sieges and Portuguese defeats have marked the history of many cities in the north, such as Tangier or CeutaThe latter had been Spanish property since the 17th century but, curiously, still bore the arms of Portugal on its coat of arms.But this expansionist zeal came to a halt after an episode in Morocco, a key event in Portuguese history: the Battle of the Three Kings, in Alcazarquivir (Ksar-Kebir). (Ksar-Kebir), in which the Portuguese king Sebastian I died. This paved the way to the throne of the Spanish King Philip II and inaugurated a period of nostalgia known as ‘sebastianismo’.
