Essaouira harbor & history repeating

Essaouira harbor & history repeating

The heat, the wind, and (do you see the heaps of fishing nets drying in the sun ?) the smell of fish.

What looks like a commonplace fortified harbor has a fascinating history : In the 18th century, a sultan expanded this sleepy fishing town at the edge of the Saraha, far in Morroko's West, into a trading hub :

A French architect, taking prisoner during a siege, designed the medina (city), a renegade Englishman, known as Ahmed el Inglizi, the entrance to the port, equipped with Spanish canons made of bronze from the New World. The city walls were built by Genovese engineers. And the construction was done - by African slaves !

In order to stimulate commerce, the sultan lowered taxes and encouraged the settlement of jewish and European traders which were well connected to the wealthy English cities of the budding industrial revolution. The gate to the port, by the way, bears symbols of the three religions - Islam, Christianism, Judaism. A rare finding on a historical monument !

Essaouira grew to become Morroko's largest port, trading in slaves, but also exotic goods from the Subsahara such as ostrich feathers and ivory, almonds and camel hides. It imported english textiles and tea.

Doesn't this story ring a bell ? Thinking of modern cities such as Dubai, with its cheap labor from Pakistan and the Philippines, its Wall Street bankers and European engineers, its free trade zones ? And once again, in the name of profit, we build a modern Babylon, regardless of the consequences for the most depraved and the environment.