El Jadida, Morocco
Tacoma's Sister City since 2007
El Jadida is a port city on the Atlantic
coast of Morocco, in the province
of El Jadida. The city’s appearance is
a beautiful and unique
architectural mixture of
Moorish-Portuguese-French influence. El Jadida has a beautiful and long
coast line that attracts over 10 million
visitors from around the world each year. It has a population
of 144,440 (2004 census) and is the port
for Marrakech and other Moroccan cities. Morocco is the
most westernized Arabic nation in the
world. Morocco sits 7 kilometers south of Spain and is
bordered by both the Mediterranean and
Atlantic seas.
El Jadida is just 90 kilometers south of
Casablanca, and has been influenced throughout history
by many European countries, especially
France. El Jadida, previously known as Mazagan
(Portuguese: Mazagao), was seized in 1502
by the Portuguese. In 1769, it came under Moroccan
rule and the city was renamed, El Jadida,
meaning “new.” It is the only city in Morocco registered
as an UNESCO World Heritage Site, since
2004, on the basis of its status as an “outstanding
example of the interchange of influences
between European and Moroccan cultures” and as an
“early example of the realization of
the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction
technology.”
According to UNESCO, the cistern housed
within the stone walls of the ancient Portuguese fort and
the Manueline church of the Assumption
are the most important buildings in the city. However,
visitors
from around the world, find El Jadida to be a progressive city that has
all the amenities.
El Jadida Sister City Chairperson
Frances Lorenz
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