Essaouira: The Citadel

The name Essaouira means "fortified place".

In 1764, the Sultan Sidi Mohamet Abdallah, decided to fortify the city and build a port to compete with the fast-developing city of Agadir. Sidi Mohamet Abdallah asked the French architect Théodore Cornut to design new ramparts to protect the city from possible attacks by rebellious tribes.

At the entrance to the port, there is a fort, the " borj el-Bermil". The town in protected on all sides by the canons located on its ramparts, which could counter enemy attacks from both the ocean and the land.

Essaouira is currently the" twin city" of St-Malo in Brittany. The resemblance between the two cities' ramparts is striking. In fact, the architect Cornut was the student of Vauban, the architect who designed St. Malo's ramparts.

Dusk is the best time of day to visit the borj. If you slip the guard a few dirhams, he might lend you his ladder and let you take this picture, which has become symbolic of the town of Essaouira. Orson Welles made his famous film Othello on these ramparts.

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