El Jadida Morocco

El JadidaEl Jadida (الجديدة) is a coastal town in Morocco, 96 km from Casablanca.HistoryDuring its history, the city of El Jadida has had several names. It was called El Jadida (The New) Rusibis or "Mazagan" respectively by the Moroccans, the Romans and the Portuguese.

Sultan Moulay Abderrahmane decided to restore the fortress in 1832. He named it El Jadida or New.In the second half of the nineteenth century, the old city of El Jadida was populated by a large Jewish community and was transformed into Mellah (Jewish quarter), then abandoned in the 1950s by a large portion thereof.In 1912, under the French protectorate, the city took the name Mazagan. It quickly overflowed the boundaries of the old Portuguese city. A new town was organized around the enclosure.The French were charmed by this beautiful city. It thus became a beach resort because of its mild climate and beaches. After independence in 1956, returns to El Jadida Mazagan.On June 30, 2004, at the 28th session of World Heritage Committee held in Suzhou in China, the Portuguese city of Mazagan (El Jadida) declared World Heritage by UNESCO.Today El Jadida attracts history buffs curious about the walled city by the Portuguese, moviegoers walking in the footsteps of Orson Welles and many holidaymakers. In August there were famous moussem Moulay Abdellah Amghar, which attracts over a hundred thousand visitors.EconomyEl Jadida has 180 000 inhabitants.
TourismThere are three beaches, one of which is well known throughout the country. These beaches are:DeauvilleAl HaouziaSidi BouzidThe latter is the best known: it is a beach resort, adjacent to El Jadida. It annually attracts thousands of vacationers, came either from El Jadida, Morocco or other cities or even abroad.Port activitiesThe port of Jorf Lasfar is the largest commercial port in Africa. Among large companies it houses, there is the inescapable JLEC plant, which employs several hundred people in El Jadida.In the near future, the Moroccan authorities will finish the construction of a highway, which paves the way for more domestic or foreign investors.

Morocco has tried to liberate the city for a long time. For two centuries, Mazagan resisted the onslaught. The Portuguese have even had to turn the attic tank to store drinking water to hold out long against these assaults (tank Portuguese). The Portuguese presence ended in 1769, when the city was liberated by Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah.On the eve of the assault, the result was hardly in doubt, the general commanding the place was ordered to evacuate the city. All the bastions were undermined and a series of explosions destroyed the walls, causing many casualties among the attackers. Between the liberation of the city until the early nineteenth century, El Jadida carried the name Mahdouma (in ruins).During his long journey along the west coast of Africa, about -650 BC. BC, the Carthaginian admiral Hanno was the first to speak of El Jadida.Several centuries later, Ptolemy spoke Rusibis port located at latitude 6 ° 40 in its coordinate system, which corresponds to the city of El Jadida current (32 10).The Portuguese occupied the area, valuable for its strategic value. They founded the fortress of Mazagan to 1506. The town itself was fortified as early as 1542, and through a belt of thick walls became a formidable citadel.