Essaouira likes to surprise the traveller with its atypical architecture characterized by the pink ochre of its ramparts which contrasts with the whiteness of its houses whose doors and blue shutters remind us of the Greek islands.
Particularly appreciated for its sunny and temperate climate, and the quality of its beaches, the city is a popular spot for water sports enthusiasts from all over the world.
Going back to the beginning of the 19th century, the bastion is in the form of a circular battery serving both as a powder magazine and an ammunition warehouse.
The ground floor of the monument consists of a series of vaulted alcoves dividing the space into eleven identical compartments. The floor has large embrasures where bronze cannons are placed.
The door was built at the same time as the Medina during the reign of the founding Sultan SMBA.
The door gives on the country of Marrakech and, intramural, on one of the principal arteries of the Medina.
Built almost on the axis of Bab Lbahr, the door is in the form of a square whose intersection of its diagonals constitutes the center of a semicircular arch.
This simple and sober type door is framed with cut stones (sandstone) without ornamentation.
They are two fortresses solidly built and equipped with a series of cannons to ensure the protection of the city. They had several shelters previously used for the storage of ammunition and the accommodation of soldiers. In order to meet their defensive objective, these two sqalas were built of cut stone and provided with surveillance towers, square or circular, and several watch towers.
The port Sqala belongs to the initial nucleus of the Medina of Essaouira. It is an essential component of the defensive architecture of the Medina of Essaouira.
It had been designed to essentially protect the port against possible maritime attacks.
Architecturally, it consists of two fortified wings 200 m long intersecting at right angles. One, located behind the pediment of the Porte de la Marine, overhangs the solid ground and the refit basin, the other faces the archipelago and raises above the stores which were used previously to shelter the soldiers, ammunition and receive water supplies.
Unlike its neighbor, the Sqala of the kasbah is built on two levels:
The Sqala of the Kasbah has a set of artillery pieces purchased in Spain. These pieces are bronze cannons 3.25 m long, 150 mm caliber and 450 mm outside section to the breech, designed to launch at around 1500 m 10-pound balls. The copper used in their manufacture came from Mexico and Peru as evidenced by the inscriptions on the studs of the cannons. Most of these pieces were cast in Seville or Barcelona between 1743 and 1782.
Built at the end of the 19th century, the Simon Attias synagogue remains the oldest and most important synagogue in the medina of Essaouira. Located in the heart of the Qasbah district, this synagogue owes its name to a Jewish merchant in the city. It has a central courtyard, a prayer hall, a mezzanine and other rooms.
Copyright: The provincial council of tourism of essaouira
