Essaouira and Safi

Busy port

Add caption

Fishing boats

Fish in Essaouira

Safi's Portuguese fortress

Safi's fortress

Essaouira is a port city and resort on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. It's the sardine capital of Morocco!! Its medina (old town) is protected by 18th-century seafront ramparts called the Skala de la Kasbah, which were designed by European engineers. Old brass cannons line the walls, and there are ocean views. Strong "Alizée" trade winds make the city’s crescent beach popular for surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Jews constituted almost 40% of the population in the late 1800's. Former residents, mostly Jews, formed a committee to rehabilitate the town. Two historic synagogues are being restored and the Jewish cemetery right outside of town is extremely well-kept.

Safi is a port city on Morocco’s Atlantic coast. Ksar El Bahr, a 16th-century fortress built by Portuguese colonizers, is on the waterfront. In the old town, food and craft stalls line the Rue du Souq. Nearby, the National Museum of Ceramics is in another Portuguese-built fort. The centerpiece of the collection is decorated local pottery, created in workshops in the hillside Colline des Potiers quarter