The Graciosa fortress was established on the coast of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to A ...

by the Portuguese in 1489. It was established on a small river island, about three leagues from the sea, at the junction of river Lucus ( Wadi Lukkus) and river el-Mekhazen (Oued Makhazine), a few kilometers inland from modern

Larache Larache ( ar, العرايش, al-'Araysh) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast, where the Loukkos River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Larache is one of the most important cities of the Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region. Man ...

. The island had been yielded to the Portuguese by Abu Zakariya Muhammad al-Saih al-Mahdi through a treaty following the Portuguese capture of Arzila. The fortress was built from February 1489 by Gaspar Jusarte. In May, a second fleet led by D. Pedro de Castelo Branco reached the island, and Diogo Fernandes de Almeida was named governor. Abu Zakariya Muhammad al-Saih al-Mahdi attacked the island to dislodge the Portuguese. After the Moroccan had blocked the river with trees, the Portuguese in Graciosa fortress had to capitulate. By the Treaty of Xamez, signed on August 27, 1489, they evacuated the island. The Portuguese thus did not resist long in Graciosa, and the Moroccans soon founded Larache at the mouth of the river. Altogether, the Portuguese are documented to have seized 6 Moroccan towns, and built 6 stand-alone fortresses on the Moroccan Atlantic coast, between the river Loukos in the north and the river of

Sous The Sous region (also spelt Sus, Suss, Souss or Sousse) ( ar, سوس, sūs, shi, ⵙⵓⵙ, sus) is an area in mid-southern Morocco. Geologically, it is the alluvial basin of the Sous River (''Asif n Sus''), separated from the Sahara desert b ...

in the south. Four of these stand-alone fortresses only had a short duration: Graciosa (1489), São João da Mamora (1515),

Castelo Real Castelo Real was a Portuguese castle established in Mogador, now Essaouira in Morocco, by the Portuguese in 1506."By 1506, at Mogador, his Castelo Real had risen firm and strong, in spite of opposition from fierce fanatical Berbers" ''The reign o ...

Mogador Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ...

(1506–10) and Aguz (1520-25). Two of them were to become permanent urban settlements: Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gué (

Agadir Agadir ( ar, أݣادير, ʾagādīr; shi, ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and south ...

, founded in 1505-06), and

Mazagan El Jadida (, ; originally known in Berber as Maziɣen or Mazighen; known in Portuguese as Mazagão) is a major port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, located 96 km south of the city of Casablanca, in the province of El Jadida and the reg ...

(Mazagão) founded in 1514-17. The Portuguese had to abandon most of their settlements between 1541 and 1550, although they were able to keep

Ceuta Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa. Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territori ...

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...

and Mazagan.''City walls: the urban enceinte in global perspective'' James D. Tracy p.352
/ref>

Notes

{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1489 Colonial history of Morocco Kingdom of the Algarve Forts in Morocco 15th-century establishments in Morocco 1489 establishments in the Portuguese Empire 16th-century disestablishments in the Portuguese Empire

See also

Notes