The coast south of Casablanca is served by several roads. The A5 autoroute connects Casablanca to El Jadida, opening up speedy access to the coastal strip, but if time is not a priority the more scenic R320 coastal road is still the best way to see the landscape. To the west, the Atlantic breakers are intermittently hidden by sand dunes or placid lagoons. To the east is a tussocky plain grazed by sheep and punctuated by scattered farm buildings. Occasionally the melancholy character of the region is relieved when the road sweeps within feet of an unexpected and inviting sandy cove.
El Jadida’s Cité Portugaise.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Portuguese legacies
About 80km (50 miles) south of Casablanca at the mouth of the River Oum er Rbia (Mother of Spring), the main road passes the little town of Azemmour 1 [map]. The view of the town from across the river is one of the most memorable in this country of set piece, almost painterly views. Indeed, Azemmour has long been a magnet for artists; many of the medina houses and walls are covered with murals, while more recently the beach is becoming increasingly popular among kite- and windsurfers.
Azemmour is the first of a string of former Portuguese ports you reach travelling along this stretch of coast. The town was occupied by the Portuguese from 1513 until 1541 – their old fort is now the kasbah. From within, the medina is unspectacular but pleasant. The old mellah is now abandoned, but the synagogue is still there and can be visited, assuming you can locate the guardian.
The Portuguese Cistern at El Jadida, a Unesco World Heritage site.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
About 16km (10 miles) further south, 100km (63 miles) from Casablanca, is the fast-changing town of El Jadida 2 [map], offering an interesting mix of cultural and hedonistic attractions.
The Portuguese held El Jadida, which they called Mazagan, for 250 years, and the fortified and moated medina (adjoining the harbour), which they constructed survives largely intact. Now protected as a Unesco World Heritage Site, this area – known as the Cité Portugaise – retains its original cobbled streets and a distinctively Portuguese architecture not found anywhere else in Morocco. The most remarkable relic is the Portuguese Cistern (daily 9am–1pm, 3–6pm), pillared and vaulted like a church crypt, and unexpectedly lovely, particularly around midday, with oblique shafts of sunlight reflected in the shallow water. Orson Welles filmed part of his Othello here. The cistern was once the armoury and fencing school for the Portuguese garrison. Round the corner the old Church of the Assumption, now restored, stands in a quiet square in the centre of the Portuguese Town. The minaret of the nearby mosque was once the Portuguese Lighthouse.
Women in El Jadida.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
The citadel’s ramparts are well preserved, including the old Porte de la Mer, the original sea gate at which ships unloaded their cargoes. A walk around the fortifications offers superb views, particularly at the Bastion de l’Ange, although for the best panorama you’ll need to hike out at high tide to the end of one of the city’s two breakwaters. These reach out on either side of the port, giving beautiful views back towards the citadel, with its monumental walls lifting out of the sea, the foreground framed by colourful fishing boats.
On the other side of the spacious Avenue Mohammed V, the old medina comprises a busy commercial network of shops and souks. In a small square to the south of the main thoroughfare is the interesting wool market and auction place. El Jadida is justly famous for its woven jellabas and haiks, and the square is full of tailors and shops full of colourful slippers and silk. During the afternoons auctioneers tour the square selling individual lengths of textiles to the highest bidder.
To the north of the citadel along the coast there is a covered fish market, which is also an excellent place to eat, as is the licensed Restaurant du Port (right in the port, past the police barrier), with privileged views of the citadel walls.
El Jadida is currently in the throes of rapid change. The Théâtre Afifi (on Avenue Mohammed VI) has finally been restored and now holds musical performances by visiting orchestras. The square it stands on has also been given a face-lift. Many properties in the Cité Portugaise have already been bought up and restored by foreigners and wealthy Moroccans, while massive investment is also pouring into the five-star mega-resort of Mazagan, just north of El Jadida, where a beautiful stretch of beach has now been equipped with its own a glitzy modern hotel complex, complete with casino and world-class golf course.
A few kilometres south of El Jadida, on the picturesque coast road, is the site of the annual moussem of Moulay Abdallah, usually held in the third week of September. The festival centres on the whitewashed and green-tiled zaouia of the same name, situated within the 12th-century walls of Tit. The moussem has one of Morocco’s most famous displays of fantasia (Moroccan horsemanship).
El Jadida.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Inland from the coast stretches the Rehamna plain, a vast rolling agricultural area settled by the descendants of Arabian Bedouin, who migrated west as early as the 11th century, laying waste to the land as they went. Today the coastal plains are known for huge phosphate mines.
Of most interest in the area is the rarely visited Kasbah de Boulâouane 3 [map] (best seen en route from El Jadida), a huge fortress set within a tight bend of the Oum er Rbia River that rises among the cedars of the Middle Atlas and drains into the sea at Azemmour.
Tip
El Jadida’s corniche on the northern side of town is the place for cafés. A whole string of them line the pavement, each with its own character.
The Kasbah was built by the great Alaouite Sultan Moulay Ismail in 1710 as one of a series of forts designed to contain areas controlled by the Portuguese. The walls are still in good condition, and it is possible to walk along the ramparts. Much of the interior is now rubble, except for the elegant arched inland gatehouse, a few interior walls, some underground chambers, the mosque (still sometimes used by local villagers) and a small adjacent marabout. The short, stubby minaret can be climbed via a narrow staircase, but the view is disappointing for all except the very tall, as its parapet is just too high for most people to see over.
Elsewhere in the kasbah, the guardian will point out, among the ruins, remains of zellige tiles, carved plasterwork and columns of pure white Carrara marble, which Moulay Ismail acquired from Italy in exchange for an equal weight of sugar. Outside the walls, on the northern side, a walled corridor leads down the slope to a tower, which was presumably designed to give the kasbah access to water from the river.
Near the kasbah are the famous Boulâouane vineyards, which produce a delicious rosé, Gris de Boulâouane.
About 90km (56 miles) further south of El Jadida, past a series of coastal saltmarshes, you come to the pretty little bay and lagoon of Oualidia 4 [map].
Safi is the place to buy good quality pottery.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
Oualidia has become a hugely popular resort – both for foreigners and Moroccans – who are drawn to the calm waters of its lagoon, relaxed beach atmosphere and famed oysters and seafood.
Tip
Fishermen in Oualidia sell and grill fish fresh from their boats on the beach, but the gourmet’s choice for the best seafood in town is undoubtedly L’Ostréa II (Oyster Farm/Parc à huîtres No. 7; tel: 5233-66324), on the northern edge of town amongst its own oyster beds.
There are two sections to Oualidia: the new town, above the beach, which has a few cafés, food stalls and banks; and the beach resort, down by the lagoon, where most of the town’s tourist development is concentrated. There are a few good hotels, most with excellent fish restaurants, as well as the deluxe La Sultana hotel, situated at the northern end of the lagoon.
Ouladia is now the most popular beach resort south of Casablanca amongst locals and is often crowded in summer, especially at weekends. Boats can be hired to cross the lagoon and access less crowded beaches on the other side of the bay. Most of the best restaurants – all simple and informal – are lined along the beach. The oyster farms (parc à huîtres), such as Oyster Farm No. 7, at the northern edge of the lagoon just outside town, can also be visited. Several secluded sandy coves can be reached by driving north out of town and then crossing over a little sandy track through marshy land to the long spit of land that separates the lagoon from the open sea. A windswept marabout (shrine) is situated at the end of this section of land and is a beautiful, peaceful spot.
The final 66km (40 miles) of the R301 to Safi is a stunning drive along dramatic cliffs, including Cap Beddouza, with enticing views down onto sandy but difficult-to-access beaches.
Safi medina.
Ming Tang-Evans/Apa Publications
About 150km (94 miles) south of El Jadida is Safi 5 [map]. In the 17th century Safi was Morocco’s chief port of trade with the Christian world, until overshadowed by Essaouira; it is now an important phosphate and fishing port, and also one of the main centres of ceramic-making in Morocco.
The town’s two main monuments were left behind by the Portuguese, who occupied it briefly in the early 16th century. The Dar el Bahr (Château de la Mer), on the shore below the medina, is well preserved, with cannons from various parts of Europe on its ramparts, reflecting European competition for commercial influence in the town after the Portuguese were driven out. In the middle of the medina, St Catherine’s Chapel, part of an unfinished Portuguese cathedral, is an attractive blend of Gothic and Renaissance elements, adorned with the arms of King Manuel I.
Up on the hill behind the medina, another Portuguese stronghold, called the Kechla, was enlarged and beautified by a son of Moulay Ismail. Today the building is the Musée National de la Céramique (National Ceramic Museum: Wed–Mon 8.30am–noon, 2.30–6pm) and contains a worthy collection of pottery from all over the country; it is worth a visit both for the ceramics and the delightful green-tiled courtyard.
North of the medina, on the so-called Colline des Potiers (Potters’ Hill) are the massed kilms, chimneys and workshops of the Safi potteries, which turn out brightly coloured earthenware plates and vases with distinctive geometrical patterns, as well as more contemporary designs originally commissioned by European importers which have become popular in Morocco. Safi pottery is found all over the country, but rarely as cheaply as at the numerous roadside stalls along this stretch of coast.
The road up to the clifftop to the north of the town brings you to the village of Sidi Bouzid 6 [map] with its zaouia (the Mahgreb term for a religious school or medersa), and restaurant Le Requin Bleu boasting a magnificent view of town and port. One can watch the long procession of sardine boats returning to port while sampling the spiced sardines that are the local speciality. The lovely beach here can get crowded, particularly in August.