Historical map depicting the Moroccan army’s siege of the Portuguese-held city of Mazagan, showing the city’s fortifications, surrounding terrain, and battle preparations.
Les Cyprés — El Jadida — The History of El Jadida

The His­to­ry of El Jadida

The ori­gins of El Jadi­da trace back to the 5th cen­tu­ry BC, when it was found­ed by the Phoeni­cians. Dur­ing the Mid­dle Ages, the area had a boat dock and was first referred to as Mazi­gane by Arab geo­g­ra­ph­er Al-Bakri in the 11th century.

In 1502, Por­tuguese cap­tain Jorge de Melo land­ed here after a storm, tak­ing refuge in an old tow­er known as Al-Bria. By 1514, the Por­tuguese built a fortress at Mazi­gane, designed by archi­tects Diego and Fran­cis­co de Arru­da. This marked the site’s trans­for­ma­tion into the Por­tuguese strong­hold of Maza­gão, expand­ed into its icon­ic for­ti­fied city by 1541.

The Por­tuguese ruled Maza­gão until 1769, when they evac­u­at­ed, destroy­ing parts of the fortress. Many of the Por­tuguese set­tlers were relo­cat­ed to Brazil, where they estab­lished Nova Maza­gão (now Maza­gão in Amapá).

In 1820, the city was renamed El Jadi­da, mean­ing “the new city,” mark­ing its rebirth. It soon became an impor­tant cul­tur­al and eco­nom­ic hub, sup­port­ed by its Mus­lim and Jew­ish communities.

Under French rule in the 20th cen­tu­ry, El Jadi­da became one of Morocco’s ear­li­est tourist des­ti­na­tions. Although the port declined due to Casablanca’s rise, the city gained indus­tri­al impor­tance with the devel­op­ment of Jorf Las­far in the 1980s. Rec­og­nized as a UNESCO World Her­itage Site in 2004, El Jadi­da remains a vibrant his­tor­i­cal and tourist destination.