The Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida), inscribed in 2004, is the finest surviving example of Portuguese Renaissance military architecture on the African continent — a fortified settlement on the Atlantic coast of Morocco built from 1502 CE by the Portuguese as “Mazagão,” occupied for 260 years, and containing the most beautiful Manueline-arched cistern in the world and the oldest Manueline church in Morocco, abandoned in 1769 CE and left intact under Moroccan administration, now one of North Africa’s most significant and least-visited archaeological monuments.
El Jadida / Mazagan: The Portuguese Atlantic Fortress of Morocco Casablanca-Settat region, Morocco, Atlantic coast, 100 km south of Casablanca
The Portuguese City of Mazagan (inscribed in 2004 under criteria (ii), (iv)) is a perfectly preserved Portuguese colonial fortified town of approximately 0.1 km² on the Atlantic coast of Morocco — the oldest and best-preserved Portuguese military settlement on the coast of Africa. The Portuguese established the settlement of Mazagão in 1502 CE as part of their systematic programme of Atlantic-coast fortification (designed to control the sea routes around Africa and protect the supply chain for the India trade); the initial wooden stockade was replaced in the 1520s–1540s by a stone bastion fortress in the new Italian Renaissance military engineering style (the trace italienne — polygonal bastions projecting from the curtain walls at angles that eliminated blind spots in artillery fire, the dominant European military design from approximately 1530 to the Napoleonic era). The fortress was besieged repeatedly by Moroccan forces; it resisted all sieges until the Moroccan sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah (who was simultaneously building Essaouira, 150 km north, as his new Atlantic port) mounted a decisive siege in 1769 CE that forced the Portuguese garrison to evacuate. The Portuguese departed for Brazil (founding Nova Mazagão in the Amazon, in present-day Amapá state, Brazil — the only colonial city transplanted directly from Africa to South America). The Moroccan population subsequently occupied the fortress town, renamed it El Jadida (“The New”), and continued to use the Portuguese buildings and street plan, which accounts for the extraordinary preservation of the interior: the original Portuguese street grid, the Manueline cistern, and the Igreja da Assunção survive intact.
The Manueline Cistern: One of the World’s Most Beautiful Interior Spaces Portuguese Cistern (Citerne Portugaise), El Jadida medina
The Citerne Portugaise (Portuguese Cistern, 1514 CE, originally built as an arsenal and converted to a cistern in 1541 CE when the Portuguese needed an internal water supply to resist sieges) is the most spectacular surviving example of Manueline (Portuguese Late Gothic) architecture in Africa — and, by any aesthetic measure, one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the world. The cistern’s plan is a rectangular hall of approximately 34 × 34 metres, with the ceiling supported by twenty-five cross-ribbed Manueline vaulted bays carried on five rows of five slender columns; the floor is partially covered by a shallow layer of water (approximately 10–20 cm deep) from the original cistern function, which has never been fully drained. The effect is hallucinatory: the Manueline arches (with their characteristic maritime decorative vocabulary of ropes, coral, anchors, and armillary spheres) are reflected in perfect symmetry in the still water, so that the visitor appears to be standing at the centre of a doubled infinity of vaulted arches — an effect enhanced by the single circular skylight at the apex of the central cupola, which provides the only natural light. The cistern was used by Orson Welles as a filming location for “Othello” (1952) — the underground dungeon scenes — and has been photographed by every major architectural photographer since the 1960s. Entry is approximately MAD 10 (approximately EUR 1); the cistern is open daily except Friday mornings.
Practical information
El Jadida is 100 km south of Casablanca (CTM buses from Casa Voyageurs station, approximately 1 hour 30 minutes; MAD 50). Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) is the international entry point. El Jadida has no airport. The Portuguese town (the UNESCO heritage area) is approximately 0.5 km square within the bastion walls — entirely walkable in 2–3 hours. The principal sites are the Portuguese Cistern, the Igreja da Assunção (the most important Manueline church in Morocco), and the bastion walls (walkable, with views of the Atlantic). The Moroccan medina (outside the Portuguese walls) has good restaurants and a Friday souk. Best season: October–April (mild Atlantic climate; summer is cool compared to inland Morocco but very popular with Casablancais beachgoers). El Jadida beach (Plage El Jadida) is immediately adjacent to the Portuguese town and is one of the most popular beaches in western Morocco.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is El Jadida (Mazagan) a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Yes. The Portuguese City of Mazagan (El Jadida) was inscribed in 2004 under criteria (ii) and (iv). It is one of 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Morocco. The inscription specifically recognizes El Jadida as “an outstanding example of the interchange of human values, over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town-planning or landscape design” (criterion ii) — the exchange in this case being the transfer of Portuguese Renaissance military architecture and Manueline decorative traditions to the African continent. The site is distinct from the more famous Moroccan medinas (Fez, Marrakesh) in being a specifically European colonial creation on African soil, rather than an indigenous North African urban development.
What is the Manueline architectural style and where else can it be seen?
Manueline (from King Manuel I of Portugal, r. 1495–1521) is a distinctly Portuguese style of Late Gothic architecture and decorative stonework developed during the reign of Manuel I — the period when Portuguese explorers were mapping the coast of Africa, opening the sea route to India (Vasco da Gama, 1498), and reaching Brazil (Pedro Álvares Cabral, 1500). The decorative vocabulary of the Manueline style is explicitly maritime: the stone carvings on Manueline portals, windows, and vaulted ceilings use ropes, nautical knots, coral branches, armillary spheres (the navigational instrument adopted by Manuel I as his personal emblem), anchors, and marine shells as the primary ornamental motifs — a direct reference to the maritime discoveries that brought Portugal unprecedented wealth during Manuel’s reign. The style is unique to Portugal and its former colonies; the finest examples in Portugal are the Jerónimos Monastery in Lisbon (UNESCO 1983) and the Convent of Christ in Tomar (UNESCO 1983). The El Jadida cistern is the finest example of Manueline architecture outside Portugal itself.
What happened to the Portuguese of Mazagan when they left in 1769?
When the Portuguese garrison of Mazagan was besieged by the Moroccan sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah in 1769 CE and was forced to evacuate, the 2,000+ Portuguese inhabitants (military garrison, merchants, and their families) were evacuated by sea to Lisbon. There, the Portuguese crown arranged for their resettlement in the Amazon basin of Brazil (then Portuguese Brazil): the settlers were transported to the mouth of the Amazon and established the city of Nova Mazagão (New Mazagan) in 1770 CE, in the region that is now the state of Amapá, Brazil. Nova Mazagão (now called Mazagão Velho) still exists as a small town in the Brazilian Amazon — and still holds a medieval festival (the Festival do Maçarico) that traces its traditions to the Mazagan Portuguese colonial culture of the eighteenth century. The transplantation of the entire Portuguese community of Mazagan to the Amazon is the only direct colonial migration from Africa to South America in history and is one of the most unusual episodes of colonial-era European settlement in the Americas.
