Portuguese City of Mazagan

The main point in coming to El Jadida is to see the Portuguese City of Mazagan. Back then, the Portuguese were in control of several parts of Morocco. They built a port city here in what was then known as Mazagan. Being the aggressor, they had to defend themselves against the locals and thus built a fort with imposing walls. The Portuguese City is also part of another list called the Seven Wonders of the Portuguese world. Back then, Portugal controlled several parts of the world. This includes Brazil, Macau, and various other countries. It is not surprising that they would build structures there as well. Most of them would be churches but in the case of Mazagan, it would be an entire city.

Indeed, the fort is very European in appearance. The walls look like other fortified cities I have seen elsewhere. Perhaps the main difference is that they seem to use sand colored stone here when it would have normally been dark stone. The city itself is not that large. However, it probably has most of what the Portuguese need. It is that quiet here there there are only a handful of tourist oriented shops here. This is a fresh change from the other very touristy places that I have been to. It is nice not to be hassled as you walk along the street. Granted, this was more pronounced in Fès, I appreciate it even more here since the locals don’t really mind you at all.

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