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Popular Things To Do | Other Things To Do Tips | All Tips (184) I figured here was a good place to start - and to get to early especially as they are one of the places that closes at midday for a couple of hours 'for lunch'! and i was in a hurry - another flying visit!? with places to be and places to see.
But a nice little museum in an interesting building - a 19th century house that was a former pasha's residence and the town hall during the Protectorate.
This museum has displays of musical instruments, and berber and jewish costumes, carpets of local tribes, jewellery, weapons and crafts. I particularly liked the painted ceilings that were on display but down at my level so i was able to get some close up views!
and some beautiful craft items in thuya wood also.
Only 10 dirham entrance fee the museum is easy enough to find if you head for the medina postoffice next door or the hotel majestic just opposite. Leave a Comment Address: Rue Darb LaaloujPhone: 00212(0)48475300Directions: next door to the Post Office and opposite the Hotel Majestic
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The fortifications of the old city are a mixture of Portuguese, French and Berber military architecture and their massiveness gives a mystique of power to the town.
Skala means sea bastion and Essaouira has two, built to protect the town ie the Skala de la Ville in the northwest and the Skala du Port in the south leading down to the harbour and docks.
The Skala du Port has battlements with cannons and two towers with picturesque views over the town centre, the fishing port and the Ile de Mogador.
From the 18th century 40 per cent of Atlantic sea traffic passed through Essaouira and being the destination of caravans from sub-Saharan Africa bringing goods for export to Europe it became known as the Port of Timbuktu! It also was once one of Morocco's largest sardine ports and still provides a living for 500-600 families. It still though has its traditional shipyard where you can see wooden boats being built, nets being fixed and fishing boats unloading their catch - from here you can see the fish being sizzled on outdoor grills or being auctioned between 3 and 5pm in the market hall just outside the port gates. Leave a Comment Address: Skala du Port, EssaouiraDirections: Down by the harbour at the southern entrance to town - immediate southwest of the medina
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The 'old' walled medina of Essouira with its white houses and blue doors, narrow streets and ornately decorated arches is one of the cleanest and brightest medinas in Morocco. and surprisingly by Moroccan standards not old at all with the town being built only 250 years ago.
(though thats a lot older than our New Zealand!)
With ramparts already in place providing fortifications from the sea Essouira was an ideal place for the Alouite ruler Mohammed ibn Abdallah who needed in the mid 18th century a southern base from which to counter any possible revolt from Agadir. The sultan commissioned a french architect to design a port and a town.
The outer walls facing the sea are typical of european fortifications whereas the inner walls which have square crenallations are Islamic in style. Leave a Comment Directions: surround the whole medina of Essouira - you will know youre getting close to the medina when you see the town walls
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We stayed at Hotel Cap Sim which had a pretty good view from its roof - so thats one of the advantages of staying somewhere with a good roof view - if your hotel doesnt have a roof view then try to approach a hotel to let you up to its top - Hotel Majestic is regarded as having one of the highest panoramas in Essaouira.
This gives you not only a view over to the sandy coastline in the distince and the waves breaking over the rocks near the Skala du ville but also the housing and streets around and down below you. I reckon its a good way to get a looksee into the locals lives and culture - seeing their rooftops - their washing, their architecture, what they keep up on their roofs etc etc. Leave a Comment Address: roof top view from the medina or scalas
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Between the ''Porte de la Marine'' and the Kasbah, a dozen of booth are installed. They have all sorts of fresh fish and can grill them for you from 11 till 6PM.
You can also get freshly pressed orange juice, prepared for you. Delicious and refreshing ! Leave a Comment
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Thuya is a hardwood, with a lovely perfume, that grows abundantly in the Agadir and Essaouira region, and has been a source of prosperity for these regions.
Almost every part of the tree except the branches can be used. Its used to make such things as coffee tables, caskets and boxes in all shapes and sizes, trays and jewellery. and decorated with polish, inlaid with decorative motifs in citron wood, mother-of-pearl or ebony and sometimes with threads of copper, silver or camel bone.
Essaouira has been renowned as the capital of marquetry and its regarded that some of the countrys best marquetry craftsmen can be seen working in the small workshops in the former munitions stores beneath the ramparts. There are plenty of shops here with items for sale.
Some nice examples can be also seen in the small museum Musee Sidi Mohammed ben Abdullah next to the post office and Hotel Majestic and also in the Cooperative Artisanal des Marqueteurs at Rue Khalid ibn oualid which is off the square where you find the renowned Pattisserie Driss. Leave a Comment
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I started my walk around Essaouira early in the morning and at first... I felt a bit strange as I didn't see any foreign visitors. When I thought that I was the only one, I got to large, rectangular, white square called Place Prince Moulay Hassan where surprisingly I met quite numerous foreign visitors sitting in a few restaurants/bars and eating breakfast.
The renovated recently square looked more European than the rest, more neglected, part of the city. It reminded me Andalusian white towns in southern Spain. The square is a place to eat, sleep (2 hotels there) and watch mainly visitors. Leave a Comment
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Skala means sea bastion and two were built in Essaouira to protect the town - the Skala du Port in the south and the Skala de la Ville in the northwest.
The fortifications of the old city are a mixture of Portuguese, French and Berber military architecture . The Skala de la Ville is the impressive sea bastion built along the cliffs consisting of a crenellated platform, with Spanish cannons, up to the North Bastion built on the site of a citadel constructed by the Portugeuse in about 1505.
It is here that is popular with locals and tourists to stroll and watch the sun set.
A passageway leads from the bastion down into the former munition stores where now are dozens of souvenir shops and thuya woodcarving and marquetry workshops. Leave a Comment
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The fortifications called Skala de la Ville are located on the northern end of the ramparts. They look quite nice but not impressive I could say and for sure much better from a little farer distance. Never mind, the views of the Atlantic Ocean are amazing from that place. Add a few small local souvenir shops and restaurants/bars put down the Skala. Leave a Comment
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Essaouira, meaning 'well planned' is quite easy to cover on foot- most of the attractions are within easy reach, and within the town walls and ramparts. However, it is still quite easy to get disorientated in the winding passages of the Mellah and Medina.
The bus station and Grands Taxi rank are outside the walls in the North East.
Entering Bab Doukkala, The gateway Arch at the North of the city, leads onto Ave. Zerktouni, which runs through the middle of Essaouira , changing name to Ave de L'Istiqlal, then Ave. Oqba ben Nafil, before ending near to the customs house and Fish markets.
** at my most recent visit, we were advised against wandering around the area near Bab Doukkala at night - apparently there has been some drug related trouble**
The Mellah (Jewish Quarter) fits into the area to the right of Ave. Zerktouni, from the gateway, to its intersection with Rue Mohammed el - Qory, then merges into
The Medina, which is to the right of Ave de L'Istiqlal, as far as the ramparts and Skala de la ville. The Medina is where some budget hotels are to be found, as well as the spice souk and market , which is more or less in the very middle of Essaouira.
The Kasbah, again contains hotels, and businesses, this is roughly in the area surrounding Ave Oqba ben Nafil.
Just a bit further along, is Skala de Port, fish market and grills, customs house, Place Moulay Hassan, boat harbour etc.
Tourist info office - Syndicat d'Initiative, on Rue de Caire- in the Kasbah www.essaouira.com or tel 044 475080
0900 -1200 1500- 1830 M-F
Hospital is on Rue Laquass opposite Bab Marrakesh (East side gateway)
Banks and ATMs - Place Moulay Hassan, had a selection of banks, plus some near Bab Doukkala I think. Hotel receptions are another option for foreign exchange. Leave a Comment
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