Essaouira day trip

Highlights of this experience :

The port and the Sqala of the kasba

Carpenters build heavy fishing boats according to ancestral methods. At the time of the auction, there is a colorful and smelly animation. At siesta time, the piled up nets are used as mattresses by the sailors.

Pass under the Marine A2 gate, built by an Englishman in 1769, which once linked the port and the city. A staircase on the left leads to the Sqala of the port (entrance fee). From the top of the tower of this fortress the view embraces the city, the port and the islands.

The medina

This labyrinth of white and blue houses can be reached by the Moulay Hassan square. At the end of the square on the left, take the arched alley, then follow the ramparts along which the cabinetmakers work the thuya wood, a great specialty of Essaouira.

A ramp leads to the city's Sqala, whose crenellated wall beautifully overlooks the ocean.

The bronze cannons are Spanish. It was here that Orson Welles shot the main scenes of his Othello, which was to win the Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. Below the platform, in the old arsenals where the pirates' boats were built and ammunition stored, The Sidi-Mohammed museum, on Laalouj street, gathers beautiful collections of musical instruments, carpets, weaving, marquetry and jewels as well as objects concerning the various brotherhoods of trance.

The beach and the island of Mogador

The beach of Essaouira stretches over 6 km, it is one of the most beautiful in Morocco, but also the windiest, which makes Essaouira a paradise for surfers.

The island of Mogador, which can be seen off shore, is not to be visited. The Phoenicians already occupied this island seven centuries before our era. Later transformed into a prison, then into a bird sanctuary, it is home to a few pairs of Eleonora falcons, a very rare species, and thousands of seagulls.

Moulay El Hassan Square

The lung of the city of Essaouira and a privileged gathering place, the square comes alive in the morning. Invaded by the terraces of the cafes, it constitutes the ideal stage for a refreshing halt at any time of the day.

Woodworking

A great specialty of the Essaouira region, the cedar tree, close to the juniper and cypress, provides the raw material for the city's many carpenters.

An important production of furniture, boxes, salad chests, chess boards and trinkets of all kinds invades the stalls of the medina. Masters in the art of marquetry, the craftsmen also use lemon, cedar and sometimes even ebony wood. However, remember to check the quality of the finishes, the locks, the clasps and the precision of the assembly.

Argan oil

Endemic to Morocco, the argan tree is a thorny tree growing in the arid regions of Essaouira and Agadir. From its olive-like fruit, a particularly fragrant orange oil is extracted that will season your salads wonderfully. Its high cost is explained by the incredible quantity of stones necessary to obtain only one liter.