El Jadida is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located
106 km south of the city of Casablanca in the region of Doukkala-Abda
and the province of El Jadida. It has a population of 194,934. From the
sea, El Jadida's old city has a very "un-Moorish" appearance; it has
massive Portuguese walls of hewn stone.
The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan was registered as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, on the basis of its status as an
"outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European
and Moroccan cultures" and as an "early example of the realisation of
the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction
technology". According to UNESCO, the most important buildings from the
Portuguese period are the cistern, and the Manueline Church of the
Assumption.
The city, and particularly its neighboring town of Sidi Bouzid, becomes
extremely busy in the summer season with an influx of mainly Moroccan
holiday-makers. Nearby is the five-star resort complex of Mazagan, which
attracts the Moroccan elite as well as many international visitors from
the Persian Gulf as well as from Europe and beyond.
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