Essaouira is one of Morocco’s most enjoyable and attractive towns on the coast. It’s charm is undeniable with its white washed and blue shuttered houses, art galleries, wood workshops, fishermen and colorful boats- all enclosed by ancient red walls. The town faces a group of rocky islands and is surrounded by an expanse of empty sandy beaches and dunes. Everything in the small center is within walking distance and the beaches are quite clean. In summer many people from the big cities come for a day or two to escape the heat and tension of the big cities.

Many tourists are attracted by the constant wind, good for wind-surfing and surfing. The windy city has become internationally famous for its contests and has brought windsurfers from all over the world.

Essaouira was founded by the Portuguese in the 18th century. Although Essaouira (then called Mogador) was home to a series of forts beginning in the 15th century, it was only in the 1760s that the town, then called Mogador, was established and the walls were constructed. The town’s blend of Moroccan and French architecture is due to the fact that a French captive architect, Theodore Cornut, designed it under the orders of the Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah.

In the 19th century, Mogador was the only port (outside of Tangier) that was open to European trade.

This protected trade status attracted British merchants, who settled in the Kasbah and a large Jewish community.

The town went into decline during the beginning of the 20th century as the French protectorate favored Casablanca and the Jewish community left. However, thanks to tourism and its fishing port, it is again on an upward swing.

Essaouira:

 Essaouira a charming fishermen's port standing on a peninsula was a port of call in the Antiquity and was renowned throughout the Roman Empire for the manufacture of purple dye. In the 16th century it became a Portuguese trading centre and was known as Mogador. In the 18th century, Sultan Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah had a new town built by a captive French engineer Theodore Cornut, who attributed Essaouira many similarities with Saint Malo French port. Essaouira has always been a very cosmopolitan town attracting poets, musicians, painters, craftsmen … from Morocco and from all over the world.
Its temperate windy micro climate makes it an ideal region for surfers and a nice summer resort.

Activities : surf, horse riding, trekking, dromedary ride on the beach, fishing and hunting…

Gnaoua Festival : in June. Open air festival featuring Gnaoua and foreign musicians. Gnaoua are distant descendants of African slaves, using Guembri -early form of lute with 2 or 3 strings - and Quarbab - heavy iron castanets and performing acrobatic dances.

½ day visit of Essaouira : the medina, the ramparts, the Skala, the marquetry craftsmen carving thuja wood inlaid with ivory, mother-of-pearl, citron or ebony; the fishermen's port, the silver jewellers, the Mellah Jewish quarter, the art galleries, Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdullah museum. Dromedary rides on the beach.

1 day to Safi : 130 km/81 mi far. Visit the 15th century Portuguese port and huge fortifications, the Kechla fortress and the ceramic museum, the Castle of the Sea (Dar El Bahr) with its 17th century cannons. Panoramic view over the Atlantic.