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El Jadida

 
 
El Jadida (ĕl jädē') or Al-Jadida (äl-jädē'), city (1994 pop. 119,083), W Morocco, on the Atlantic Ocean. Agricultural products are exported from the port. It was seized by the Portuguese in 1502 and after 1541 was the only place Portugal held in Morocco. Repeatedly besieged by the Moroccans, it was finally captured by them in 1769. The city was formerly called Mazagan.


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Dialing Code: The telephone dialing code for: El Jadida, Morocco
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The country code is: 212
The city code is: 334


Wikipedia: El Jadida
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El Jadida
The medina of El Jadida
El Jadida is located in Morocco
El Jadida
Location in Morocco
Coordinates: 33°14′N 8°30′W / 33.233°N 8.5°W / 33.233; -8.5
Country  Morocco
Region Doukkala-Abda
Province Province of El Jadida
Population (2004)
 - Total 144,440
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
 - Summer (DST) WEST (UTC+1)

El Jadida (Amazigh: Mazghan, Arabic:الجديدة) is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida. It has a population of 144,440 (2004 census). From the sea, El Jadida has a very un-Moorish appearance; it has massive Portuguese walls of hewn stone.[1]

El Jadida, previously known as Mazagan (Portuguese: Mazagão), was seized in 1502 by the Portuguese, and they controlled this city until 1769, when they abandoned Mazagão. Its inhabitants were evacuated to Brazil, where they founded new settlement Nova Mazagão (now in Amapá). El Jadida was then taken over by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah.

El Jadida fortified town.
Manueline cistern of the El Jadida fortress.

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".


Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida)*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party  Morocco
Type Cultural
Criteria ii, iv
Reference 1058
Region** Arab States
Inscription history
Inscription 2004  (28th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
** Region as classified by UNESCO.


According to UNESCO[2], the most important buildings from the Portuguese period are the cistern, and the Manueline Church of the Assumption.

At present, the city's main exports are beans, almonds, maize, chick-peas, wool, hides, wax and eggs. It imports cotton, sugar, tea and rice. The presence of nearby ports and factories is responsible for the pollution of El Jadida's beaches.

The modern city of Essaouira (containing some of the earliest recorded Phoenician settlement history of Morocco: the archaeological ruins of Mogador[3]) connects to El Jadida from the south via the R301 road.

Contents

People

  • Cheikh Chouaib Doukkali, former minister of Justice and president of the Appellate court
  • Driss Chraïbi, author
  • Driss Jettou, former Prime Minister


Town twinning

References

  1. ^ Paula Hardy, Heidi Edsall, Mara Vorhees (2005). Morocco. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1740596781. http://books.google.com/books?visbn=1740596781&id=FKxWBLwMBqYC&pg=PP132&lpg=PP132&ots=M6ZmqMQy-f&dq=El+Jadida&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=aAx9rjDRgDUssro2ZhOhtUOCdBw. 
  2. ^ Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida) - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
  3. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Mogador: Promontory Fort, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, November 2, 2007 [1]

External links

References

Coordinates: 33°14′N 8°30′W / 33.233°N 8.5°W / 33.233; -8.5


 
 

 

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Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "El Jadida" Read more