Azemmour or Azammur ( ar, أزمور, azammūr; ber, ⴰⵣⵎⵎⵓⵔ, azemmur, lit=wild olive tree) is a Moroccan city, lying at the Atlantic ocean coast, on the left bank of the

Oum Er-Rbia River Oum Er-Rbia ( Berber: ⴰⵙⵉⴼ ⵏ ⵉⵙⴰⴼⴻⵏ, ar, أم الربيع, "the mother of springtime", spelling Oum el- rbia, is a large, long and high-throughput river in central Morocco. The river is long. With an average water through ...

, 75 km southwest of Casablanca.

Etymology

The word Azemmour comes from the Berber word ''Azemmur'' ("wild olive tree").

History

Azemmour is generally identified as the

Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

Azama, latinized as Asama. Before 1486, it was a dependency of the

King of Fez This is the list of rulers of Morocco, since the establishment of the state in 789. The common and formal titles of these rulers has varied, depending on the time period. Since 1957, the designation King has been used. The present King of Moroc ...

. 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 Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

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 1st he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants.

Ferdinand Magellan Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the Eas ...

, 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

west of Casablanca. Azemmour's beach is a place for surfing 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, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wa ...

. Also called Haouzia, the area's flora includes

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

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 interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be con ...

was built on the order of Mohammed ben Abdallah. 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 Portuguese 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 ("Little Stephen"; modern spelling Estebanico; –1539), also known as Esteban de Dorantes or Mustafa Azemmouri (مصطفى الزموري), was the first African to explore North America. Estevanico first appears as a slave in Port ...

, 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 Abdallah Laroui ( ar, عبدالله العروي; born 7 November 1933) is a Moroccan philosopher, historian, and novelist. Besides some works in French, his philosophical project has been written mostly in Arabic. He is among the most read and ...

, Moroccan historian, novelist and philosopher

Images

Image:20090807_Azemmour_Morocco_2.jpg , Azemmour old city. Image:Azemmour from Oum Er-Rbia.jpg , Azemmour seen from Oum Er-Rbia River. Image:Azemmour_synagogue.jpg , Synagogue. File:Azemmour embroidery, Morocco, 18th century.jpg, Azemmour embroidery, 18th century Image:Braun_Azemmour_UBHD.jpg , Azemmour 16th century.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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