White and blue houses
A town on the sea.
Mounir Neddi — CC0 · Patrick Nouhailler's… — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Esculapio — CC BY-SA 2.5 · mwanasimba from La Réunion — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Anderson sady — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Mounir Neddi — CC BY-SA 4.0
The walled town of Essaouira, once Mogador, on a rocky peninsula in the Atlantic. Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah built it from the 1760s as a trading port linking Morocco and the Saharan caravans with Europe and the world, laid out with the French engineer Théodore Cornut on the principles of European military architecture of the day. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. Essaouira differs from other medinas in its fairly straight streets and orderly plan in four quarters, its white houses with blue doors and shutters, and its stone ramparts over the sea. Muslims, Jews and European merchants lived here side by side, and the old Mellah quarter still bears witness to that. Its lanes are full of craft shops, best known for inlaid thuya wood, silver, carpets and argan oil, alongside artists' galleries. Every summer it hosts the Gnaoua World Music Festival, bringing together Gnaoua musicians and artists from around the world. Wandering is free, and the town is calm and easy to explore compared with the big cities; strong winds blow most of the year, keeping it mild even in summer. It is about three hours by car from Marrakech.
A town on the sea.
Essaouira's famous craft.
Music every summer.
Old medina, Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast
Skala de la Kasbah (Essaouira Ramparts)The sea bastion of Essaouira's old town, a long stone platform on its ramparts o4 minutes walk
Port of Essaouira and Skala du PortEssaouira's traditional fishing port, one of the liveliest and loveliest places 9 minutes walk
Essaouira BeachA broad sandy beach sweeping in a long curve south of Essaouira's old town on th9 minutes walkYes, it is calm and mild, combining the old town, the port, the beach and water sports; many stay a few days after the bustle of Marrakech.