Choose wisely. Connect locally.Add your business 
El Jadida is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, about 100 km southwest of Casablanca in the Casablanca-Settat region. Its name means "the new one", and it grew up around the fortress that the Portuguese built here in the 16th century and called Mazagan.
The Portuguese held Mazagan until 1769, when they abandoned it after a siege by the sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah. The town was resettled in the 19th century and renamed El Jadida. Its walled Portuguese City, with star-shaped ramparts, bastions, a church and a vaulted underground cistern, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
Today El Jadida is a busy regional center and a favorite summer resort, with long sandy beaches, a lively fishing port and simple seafood stalls. Short trips lead to the old river town of Azemmour, the shrine and horse festival of Moulay Abdallah, and the oyster lagoon of Oualidia further down the coast.
The Portuguese City of Mazagan is the walled old town of El Jadida, built by the Portuguese as a fortified colony on the Atlantic coast in the 16th century. Held by them until 1769, it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004 as an early example of Renaissance military design.
The Portuguese Cistern lies beneath the old town of El Jadida and was built in the 16th century, probably first as an arsenal or storehouse before it became a cistern. Its vaulted stone hall, mirrored in a thin sheet of water, was used by Orson Welles as a setting for his film Othello.
The Ramparts of Mazagan surround the Portuguese old town of El Jadida, with thick walls and corner bastions laid out in the 1540s with the help of the Italian engineer Benedetto da Ravenna. Visitors can walk along the top of the walls for views over the old town, the fishing port and the Atlantic.
The Church of the Assumption stands inside the Portuguese City of El Jadida and was built by the Portuguese in the 16th century as the main church of their colony of Mazagan. With its simple facade and square bell tower, it is one of the clearest reminders of the town's long Portuguese past.
The Sea Gate of Mazagan is an arched opening in the ramparts of the Portuguese old town of El Jadida, through which boats once came in from the sea to unload supplies inside the fortress. It now looks out over rocks and the fishing harbor, and it is one of the most photographed corners of the town.
Torre do Rebate is a tall Portuguese tower inside the old town of El Jadida, built as a watchtower over the harbor of Mazagan. After the town returned to Moroccan rule it became the minaret of the Great Mosque, and it is often said to be the only five-sided minaret in Morocco.
El Jadida Fishing Port lies right next to the walls of the Portuguese City, where brightly painted wooden boats bring in sardines and other fish from the Atlantic. Watching the catch come in, then eating grilled fish at the simple stalls nearby, is a small pleasure of any visit to El Jadida.
El Jadida Beach is the long sandy beach that curves along the bay beside the center of El Jadida, backed by a seafront promenade with cafes. In summer it becomes one of the busiest beaches on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, drawing families from Casablanca, Marrakech and the farming plains inland.
Sidi Bouzid Beach lies a few kilometers south of the center of El Jadida, beside a small village named after a local saint. Its wide sand and steady Atlantic waves make it popular with surfers and bodyboarders, and cafes and fish restaurants look out over the beach from the coast road above.
Azemmour is an old town on the Oum Er-Rbia River about 15 km northeast of El Jadida, with a walled medina rising above the riverbank. Like Mazagan it was held by the Portuguese in the early 16th century, and its whitewashed lanes, river views and colorful murals make an easy half-day trip.
Moulay Abdallah is a coastal village about 10 km south of El Jadida, near the ruins of the medieval fortified town of Tit. It is best known for the shrine of the saint Moulay Abdallah Amghar and its large summer moussem, where teams of tbourida horsemen charge and fire their muskets together.
Oualidia is a small resort about 75 km southwest of El Jadida, set on a calm lagoon sheltered from the Atlantic by a line of rocks. It is famous across Morocco for its oyster farms and seafood, and its quiet beaches and still water are popular for swimming, kayaking and watching birds.
No reviews yet. Been to El Jadida? Be the first to share your experience.
Share what you loved, what to skip and tips for other travelers.
Log in to write a reviewBeen to El Jadida? Add your best shots to the gallery.
Log in to add photosPhoto: xiquinhosilva from Cacau, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: angelius1979, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Mustang Joe, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Photo: Mathew Koshy, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: رشيدة رقي, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Ahlamine, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: SADIKFATIMAZAHRA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: xiquinhosilva from Cacau, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Jonofpob, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: R Prazeres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Rui Ornelas [2], Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: User: (WT-shared) Radouane at wts wikivoyage, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Rui Ornelas from Lisboa, Portugal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Rui Ornelas from Lisboa, Portugal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Rui Ornelas from Lisboa, Portugal, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Guilandre, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Axel Rouvin from Bordeaux, France, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Rui Ornelas [2], Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: User: (WT-shared) Radouane at wts wikivoyage, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Photo: Fulvio Attisani, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Photo: R Prazeres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: M.Rais, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Reda benkhadra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: R Prazeres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Reda benkhadra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: R Prazeres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: R Prazeres, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Amal BENTOUMI, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: M.Rais, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Erwan de Kerhister, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Vanbasten 23, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Reda benkhadra, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Mzximvs VdB from Brussels, belgium, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Photo: AbdellahMJ93, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Meryem BOURAS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Snipervga, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Meryem BOURAS, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Yaroslav Blanter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Bertrand SOUBEYRAND, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Bertrand SOUBEYRAND, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Bertrand SOUBEYRAND, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Lucyin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Lucyin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Lucyin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Lucyin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Lucyin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Photo: Sharon Hahn Darlin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Send your link to friends and earn points when they join. Honest reviews and real photos add more. Collect 100 and you're in the round.
No purchase necessary. US residents 18+. Official rules
