Essaouira is the most international town of the kingdom without ever having sought to be. Everything here hangs on a sultan, a French architect, a wood and a wind.

The Alawite sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah decided in 1764 to build a modern Atlantic port to open Morocco to European trade and regain control of the southern commerce. He entrusted the plan to a French engineer, Théodore Cornut, a former pupil of Vauban — hence the grid medina, an absolutely unique feature in Morocco. Ben Abdallah drew to Mogador (the name the town bore until independence) Andalusian Jewish families who obtained a privileged commercial status — the Tujjar al-Sultan, the sultan's merchants — and who made the town, until 1912, the leading commercial place of the kingdom.

I. A medina designed by a Frenchman

The engineer Théodore Cornut, trained in the Vauban school, applied to Mogador the principles of European bastioned fortification: the port Sqala, the Kasbah Sqala, reused Portuguese ramparts, a grid plan. This rational plan — parallel streets, regular blocks, open squares — radically distinguishes Essaouira from the other Moroccan medinas, which developed organically over the centuries. It is one of the few towns in the world to combine Islamic architecture and an 18th-century European urban plan.

UNESCO listed the medina in 2001 (criteria ii and iv) precisely for this singularity: "an exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built in North Africa in accordance with the contemporary principles of European military architecture." The town became a royal port of trade with Europe: sugar, ostrich feathers, gum arabic, ivory, hides. At the start of the 19th century, some seventeen foreign consulates were counted there — without equivalent in the other Moroccan ports.

II. Thuya, the king's precious wood

Barbary thuya (Tetraclinis articulata) is a conifer endemic to north-western Africa. Morocco holds nearly 80% of the world reserves. Its burl — the gnarled growth that forms at the base of the trunk — is the most prized material: high density, a tormented grain, a peppery scent that impregnates the piece and lasts for decades. The harvest is strictly regulated by the High Commission for Water and Forests; extracting the wood requires a permit and precise ecological monitoring.

Essaouira is the world capital of thuya marquetry. Three techniques coexist: marquetry proper (inlay of fillets in citronwood, ebony, mother-of-pearl, silver wire), sculpture (solid volumes, caskets, statuettes), and veneering (a fine sheet glued onto a pine core). An average casket mobilises between 150 and 200 hours of work — from the drying of the wood (6 months minimum) to the final polishing with beeswax. The Thuya Marqueters' Craft Cooperative, founded in 1948, is one of the oldest craft cooperatives still active in Morocco.

III. Gnawa, the black soul of Morocco

Essaouira is the Moroccan epicentre of Gnawa music, listed as UNESCO intangible heritage in 2019. The Gnawa descend from sub-Saharan slaves — mainly Bambara, Soninke, Hausa — deported to Morocco from the 16th century. Mogador, a trading port, welcomed an important community of them which developed, around the saint Sidi Bilal (the first muezzin of Islam, himself an Ethiopian freed by the Prophet), a unique musical and spiritual syncretism.

The derdba night ceremony — which can last all night, until dawn — mobilises the three emblematic instruments: the guembri (a three-string lute-drum, mounted on camel skin), the qraqeb (metal castanets) and the tbel (a large drum). Since 1998, the Gnaoua and World Music Festival transforms the town each June: it is one of the largest world-music festivals on earth, with unprecedented fusions — Gnawa-jazz, Gnawa-hip-hop, Gnawa-Malian blues.

IV. Today: a pilot town of the Plan Maroc Vert and of crafts

Essaouira concentrates an exceptional share of the national craft fabric. More than 80 cooperatives are established in the provincial territory; more than 120 artisans work simultaneously at the Bab Doukkala Craft Centre, one of the largest in the kingdom. The argan tree — UNESCO intangible heritage 2014 — is the other economic pillar: Essaouira province is, with Tiznit, the great argan basin of Morocco, with women's cooperatives (Ajddigue, Tighanimine, Marjana) that export to some thirty countries.

The Souk Joutia (scrap and wood souk), the Souk Jdid (central market), and the port Sqala — where one watches the blue fishing boats come in each morning with the sardine — form the backbone of an economy that remains on a human scale. This modesty of scale is probably what allowed Essaouira to keep its authenticity, even though the town today receives more than 500,000 tourists a year.

V. To see, to learn

Essential places to understand the crafts of Essaouira.

• Port Sqala 18th-century bastion — Preserved Portuguese and Dutch cannons, sea view.
• Kasbah Sqala Medina — Set of Othello (Orson Welles, 1949).
• Bab Doukkala Craft Centre Northern entrance — 120+ artisans including marqueters, jewellers, weavers.
• Tamounte Cooperative Medina — Aït Ouaouzguite and Glaoua Berber carpets.
• Gnaoua Festival Each June — More than 500,000 spectators, free-access stages.
• Mellah / Jewish quarter Bab Marrakech — Restored Slat Rabbi Haïm Pinto synagogue, historic cemetery.

VI. Sources

1. UNESCO WHC — Medina of Essaouira (former Mogador) — Inscription 2001. — link.
2. UNESCO ICH — The Gnawa — Inscription 2019. — link.
3. Thuya Marqueters' Craft Cooperative — Founded 1948 — Traditional marquetry of Essaouira..
4. Maison de l'Artisan — Marrakech-Safi / Essaouira province — Inventory. — link.