128 wanderlust.co.uk April 2020
ofthe Hassan II Mosque dominates
theseafront skyline. It can hold
105,000 worshippers inside and out
and is a masterclass in Moroccan
decorative arts that took around six
years and 6,000 maalems, or master
craftsmen, to create. Aromatic cedar
wood was brought from the Middle
Atlas Mountains, granite from Agadir,
the colossal gates are beaten brass and
titanium, and the lotus flower
fountains in the underground ablution
rooms were carved from local marble.
On a tour of downtown with Lahbib
El Moumni, an architect and member
of Casamémoire, a non-profit
organisation dedicated to preserving
the city’s 20th-century architecture,
I marvelled as geometric Neoclassical
edifices rubbed shoulders with ornate
neo-Moorish façades. Symmetrical
Art Deco structures and the
contemporary Grand Theatre de
Casablanca stood out, all blindingly
white against the cobalt-blue sky.
Passage to Portugal
Another architectural anomaly lay
an hour further down the wild
coastline: the Mazagan Beach
and Golf Resort stands like
a contemporary kasbah on a 7km-
stretch of deserted beach. There was
certainly no shortage of things to do
- surfing lessons and horse rides
along the shore – or places to eat.
But I bypassed the pool in order to
explore Azemmour, a ten-minute
drive to the north. The city rises
above the banks of the Oum Er-Rbia- the ‘Mother of Spring River’ – that
twists through fertile fields and
eucalyptus forests to the Atlantic. For
a brief period in its history it was
Portuguese, after they conquered it
with ease in 1513, before abandoning
it almost 30 years later.
I wandered around the tourist-free
walled medina, an atmospheric
warren of winding streets lined with
crumbling buildings, and tagged
along with a bevy of street cats in the
wake of a straw-hatted sardine seller,
as he pushed his ramshackle wooden
cart over the cobbles. As I dipped
down snaking alleyways, each one
narrower than the last, an elderly lady
smiled and wagged her finger at me,
signalling that I was heading down
a dead end. An age-old Amazigh
Berber tattoo decorated her chin. This
dying tradition is as much symbolic as
it is practical; it is believed to protect
against evil spirits, as well as
announcing your tribe.
Known for its crafts, Azemmour
wears its art on its scuffed walls. The
murals immortalising Mustafa
Azemmouri – better known as
Estevanico or Esteban the Moor after
he was sold into slavery – revealed an
unexpected slice of history. While
much of his story has been lost in
time, we know that he was the first
African to set foot in the present-day
United States; one of four survivors
from an ill-fated Spanish expedition
to the New World in 1528, that
withstood shipwreck, famine,
disease and Native American attacks
to make it to the wild west.
To the south of its namesake resort,
the 16th-century city of Mazagan –
now known as El Jadida or ‘The New’- was one of the first African
settlements built by Portuguese
explorers on route to India. It was
their last stronghold when they
were evicted in 1769 and still has
a distinctly European feel. Encircled
by ochre-walled, star-shaped
fortifications, I strolled its sun-baked
streets. The gothic Church of the
Assumption sat side-by-side with the
grand mosque and its one-of-a-kind
five-sided minaret, while a ruined
synagogue still bore a Star of David on
its façade; another reminder that the
region sat at a cultural crossroads.
- was one of the first African
Melting pot
My last stop was breezy Essaouira.
This laid-back outpost has long been
a multicultural mix, with visitors
drawn by its 18th-century medina
enclosed in honey-coloured ramparts,
the postcard-perfect port and vast
swathes of golden sand. It’s the latter,‘Essaouira’s medina draws you
in with its honey-coloured
ramparts, postcard-perfect
fishing harbour and golden sand’
Don’t miss the boat
(clockwise from above)
Essaouira’s postcard-
perfect port; Cité
Portugaise, El Jadida;
Azeddine Nasik takes his
inspiration from nature;
this laidback outpost has
developed its own style of
contemporary Moroccan
art; camel rides on the
golden sands of Essaouira⊳