Azemmour or Azammur () is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River, 75 km southwest of

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

Etymology

The word Azemmour comes from the

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

word ''Azemmur'' ("wild olive tree").

History

Azemmour is generally identified as the

Punic The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people who migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' ...

Azama, latinized as Asama. Before 1486, it was a dependency of the King of Fez. In 1486 its inhabitants became

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s and tributaries of João II of Portugal. In 1513 Azemmour's governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute and mustered a powerful, well-equipped army. Manuel responded to this challenge by sending a massive fleet of 500 ships and 15 thousand soldiers (Bergreen, 19). James, Duke of Braganza led this army and on September 1 he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants.

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer best known for having planned and led the 1519–22 Spanish expedition to the East Indies. During this expedition, he also discovered the Strait of Magellan, allowing his fl ...

, the man famed for leading the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth, was among the Portuguese soldiers there; he lost his horse in skirmishes outside the city. Portuguese control of the city lasted only for a short period; it was abandoned by João III of Portugal in 1541 due to his court's economic difficulties.

Geography

Azemmour is located on the Oum Er-Rbia River west of

. Azemmour's beach is a place for

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

and

kitesurfing Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

. Also called Haouzia, the area's flora includes

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of more than 700 species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae. Most species of ''Eucalyptus'' are trees, often Mallee (habit), mallees, and a few are shrubs. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalyp ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

Culture

A spring festival used to be held annually in Azemmour in March. It was first held in 2007. The patron saint of Azemmour is Abu Shuayb. His

mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type o ...

was built on the order of

Mohammed ben Abdallah ''Sidi'' Mohammed ben Abdallah ''al-Khatib'' (), known as Mohammed III (), born in 1710 in Fez, Morocco, Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the List of rulers of Morocco, Sultan of Morocco from 1757 to 1790 as a member of the 'Alawi dyna ...

. Each year, a ''moussem'' is celebrated to honour him. The Old City's walls are decorated by several local artists.''Travel guide of Lonely Planet: Morocco,'' 9th Edition Feb 2009, p. 149. The city features a medina, which has three parts, a Jewish mellah, a kasbah, and the old medina. A historic lighthouse called Sidi Boubeker is located north of Azemmour.

Notable natives or residents

* Jaafar Aksikas, Moroccan American author and intellectual *

Estevanico Estevanico (–1539), also known as Mustafa Azemmouri and Esteban de Dorantes and Estevanico the Moor, was the first person of African descent to explore North America. He was one of the last four survivors of the Narváez expedition, along with ...

, also known as Esteban the Moor, was enslaved and traveled with a Spanish expedition to North America in 1527. He is the first African to travel with explorers in North America and was one of four men out of several hundred to survive shipwrecks on the Florida and Texas coasts, Native American slavery and attacks, and other setbacks over a six-year period before he and his party reached safety in a Spanish colonial town. * Abdallah Laroui, Moroccan historian, novelist and philosopher

Images

File:Braun Azemmour UBHD.jpg, Azemmour 16th century. File:ETH-BIB-Azemmour mit gr. Mosquée Moulay Bou ChaĎb-Dia 247-09215.tif, Azemmour in 1936 File:ETH-BIB-Azemmour mit Spiegelung im Oum er-Rbia-Dia 247-03993-1 (cropped).tif, Azemmour from the Oum Rabia in 1936 File:Azemmour synagogue.jpg, Synagogue. File:Azemmour embroidery, Morocco, 18th century.jpg, Azemmour embroidery, 18th century

References

Citations

Bibliography

* . * . {{Authority control Former Portuguese colonies Kingdom of the Algarve Populated places in El Jadida Province Phoenician colonies in Morocco