Medina

Medina Review

This isn't so much a sight as the very essence of Essaouira, where you are most likely to stay, eat, shop, and wander. Brown volcanic stone is the characteristic building material of Portuguese architecture in Morocco, and its best examples (outside El Jadida) are Essaouira's medina and main portal. Unlike the rust-colored earth used for southern Moroccan buildings, this stone is a light brown. Essaouira is benefiting from preservationists' attention while its walls, ramparts, and Portuguese church are being carefully restored. Painted walls, such as those around the main square and near the port, have been restored from a light pink to their former natural beige.

There are two other sections within the city walls: the Kasbah, used to house urban aristocrats and governing authorities and thus double-secured with additional walls; and the Mellah, the old Jewish quarter, which once housed merchants who benefited from preferential tax and commercial laws designed to establish Essaouira as a market center.