ESSAOUIRA :

- THE MEDINA OF ESSAOUIRA

- THE RAMPARTS AND THE SQALA OF KASBAH

- THE BEACH

- GNAOUA

- ISLAND MOGADOR


THE MEDINA OF ESSAOUIRA

Small but charming the Medina of Essaouira which starts from the Moulay El-Hassan plaza offers charming colourful strolls in the medley of small commercial streets. One alcould compare it to the architecture of Avignon, Cornut. The marocco-portuguese style, the large mosques the domes, the shady terraces, the souks, provide many différent pleasures for your eyes. As your walk takes you through the narrow street, you will see the carpenters working with thuya wood close to the ramparts.



THE RAMPARTS AND THE SQALA OF KASBAH

Essaouira was built at the same time as its ramparts which were used for a long time as defence against invaders. This enclosure is crenulated and opening off broad doors. Beside the sea, it remains still a bastion with its guns emplacements. The fortifications are similar of Vauban in France. They surround the town whose plans were drawn up by Theodore Cornut. Along these ramparts, you will not be able to escape a visit to the Sqala from the kasbah, with its guns of bronze and the weapons of Aragon and Castille along its 200 meters ; this old Portuguese battery is certainly the place most symbolic of past importance and the most picturesque in Essaouira.


THE BEACH

In extends for more than 6 kilometres. One can doze in the sun under delightful and near perfect conditions, and swim in the sea which is supervised in the summer months by lifeguards; as the very strong currents are often dangerous.

GNAOUA

The singers are well known and some of them have worldwide celebrity and come to Essaouira as established stars of their genre. They use the guenbri, the drums (ganga) and the crotales (qraqeb) made from two half-spheres made of iron... fixed on a bar and which one strikes against the other in a particular rhythm. The gnaoua is a music without borders in Essaouira people of all ages and all walks of life enjoy its rhythmns.

ISLAND MOGADOR

If you go to the port and you look at the sea, you will notice two islands and a tiny s island very close to the coast. This archipelago is called the islands of Mogador. The largest island of 30 hectares, called “island of the Pharaon”, shelters an unused prison built at the end of last century as well as a mosque with its minaret and some abandoned fortifications. The site is a reserve of birds (inter alia gulls and seagulls), and in particular a nesting place for the Eléonore falcons. The islands also play an important role protecting the bay against the powerful waves of the Atlantic