Essaouira city and the The Grand Place

Marrakech offers the possibility to visit the Essaouira city. 180 km. from Marrakech, a stronghold of the Atlantic where’re lying Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Bob Marley and the caravans passed along the paths crossing the desert in Timbuktu Atlas Essaouira via Marrakech, known by its portuguese name Mogador, the name that refers to chain strengths of Brazil in South America.

Essaouira, is associated with the music, the Swinging Sixties and being at the 18th century it’s a fortified town built on the principles of military architecture of contemporary Europe into North Africa.Essaouira has stood since its foundation as an international trading port between Morocco and sub-Saharan around with everyone. It was and remains a center of Jewish pilgrimage in Africa with his famous music festival, which was the creation of a French expatriate who had roots in this city where there’re six Jewish neighborhoods, Marrakech is indeed "Al Hamra", the red city painted with the Jews colors blue and white. and the star of David is inscribed on the catwalk.

In Essaouira develops an annual pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Haim Pinto, historical and religious place, as the Synagogue Simon Attias that’s also still standing.But to get there, it’s necessary to leave Marrakech early in the morning, passing through the suburbs of another city with residential apartments. Many people walk to get public transport that is not good and the buses that are overloaded.

At the edge of the road people sell drinks, tea, cigarettes and meals with beans and bread. Upon leaving the Al Hamra has a single lane road with 180 km to Essaouira. The trip can see a fertile field in the first half with growing vegetables and polythene tunnels. The cities on the route are lineal with shops and regional markets, exchange of goods and rudimentary pavement. All this is changing with the development replacing this path by a two-lane highway and a highway to be completed in 2010.

The Grand Place was rebuilt by Muhammad II in the late nineteenth century, Essaouira served as the main port of Morocco, offering caravan trade products to the world. This route brought goods from sub-Saharan Africa to Timbuktu, then across the desert and the Atlas Mountains to Marrakech. The road from Marrakech to Essaouira is a straight line, the king chose this port among the many offered by the Moroccan coast. Mohammed ben Abdallah encouraged those Jews to come to Morocco to settle in the city and control the trade with Europe.

The Jews represented 40% of the population, and the Jewish quarter and still contains many synagogues Mellah of those times with a large Jewish cemetery. The city flourished but caravan trade died, have gone out of fashion and was replaced by direct trade with Europe sub-Saharan Africa.