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There are two main districts inside Essaouira’s ramparts: The Mellah on the east, and the medina on the west.

The medina is crossed by two axes: one connecting Bab Doukkala to the seaport, and the other connecting Bab Marrakech to the sea. On their intersection, there is the Souk Jedid (the new market) that shelters four markets: the seafood market, the spices market, the cereals market, and the food market.

The medina was built following the will of the Alaouite king Sidi Mohamed ben Abdallah (1757-1790) who wanted to have a commercial port on the Atlantic Ocean close enough to his capital: Marrakech. Moreover, the sultan wanted Essaouira to be a leading spot for international trade, in order to compete with the rebellious port of Agadir. The French architect Nicolas Théodore Cornu created the plans of the Medina of Essaouira, and worked for three years on building the port and the Kasbah, making them a remarkable example for a fortified town.

The Medina of Essaouira was listed on the world heritage list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in December 2001. It’s considered as “an exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built according to the principles of contemporary European military architecture in a North African context”.

It’s not only for its architectural characteristics that the Medina is considered as a world heritage, but it’s also for its peaceful coexistence of a population of different religious: Muslims, Christians, and Jews.

The medina of Essaouira is rich by its architecture that reflects a mixture of European and Moroccan styles, and its narrow alleys of Moroccan and Portuguese styles; which constitutes a precious inheritance for the city that is worth being under international protection.

All that makes of Essaouira one of the privileged destinations among Moroccan cities.