Agadir Gallery

Harbour of Essaouira, on Atlantic coast of Morocco

Harbour of Essaouira, on Atlantic coast of Morocco.
Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. The city was known in the time of 11th-century geographer al-Bakri and, as he reported, was called Sidi Megdoul. In the 16th-century, a corruption of this name became known to the Portuguese as Mogador. The Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador') is a Unesco World Heritage listed city, an example of a late 18th-century fortified town, as transferred to North Africa by European colonists. The medina is home to many small arts and crafts businesses, notably cabinet making and thuya wood-carving (using roots of the Tetraclinis tree), both of which have been practised in Essaouira for centuries. The fishing harbour, suffering from the competition of Agadir and Safi remains rather small, although the catches (sardines, conger eels) are surprisingly abundant due to the coastal upwelling generated by the powerful trade winds and the Canaries Current. Essaouira remains one of the major fishing harbours of Morocco.
This town was the setting for several scenes of the popular Game of Thrones and as Othello version of Orson Welles

The granary (agadir) of Tasginnt, one of the oldest for the Idouska tribe

The granary (agadir) of Tasginnt, one of the oldest for the Idouska tribe. In Moroccan societies the agadir was considered a sacred institution whereby the local community reaffirmed their connections with the regional saints in the form of offerings. Agadirs were built as fortresses with narrow streets controlled by doors with multiple locks.. Country of Origin: Morocco. Culture: Islamic, Idouska Oufella Tribe. Period/ Date: dates from the 17th C AD. Place of origin: Ait Abdellah region, Anti Atlas. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive. Location: 27

© Werner Forman Archive / Heritage-Images