Agadir

Agadir is a major city in Morocco. It is located 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 509 kilometres (316 mi) south of Casablanca. Agadir is the capital of the Agadir Ida-U-Tanan Prefecture and of the Souss-Massa economic region. The majority of its inhabitants speak Amazigh language, one of the two official languages of Morocco. It was the locale for the Agadir Crisis of 1911 between France and Germany that presaged the First World War.

History

Founded around 1104 BC as Gadir or Agadir by Phoenicians from Tyre Little history is recorded on Agadir before the 12th century.

The oldest cartographic mention of Agadir is on a map from 1325: at the approximate location of the modern city there was an indication of a place called Porto Mesegina, after the name of a Berber tribe already mentioned in the 12th century, the Mesguina, that is to say the Ksima.

At the end of the medieval period, Agadir was a town of some notoriety. The name itself, Agadir al-harba, was attested to for the first time in 1510.

In 1505, the Portuguese, who were already installed on the Moroccan coast, founded a trading post and a fort at the foot of the hill to the sea, Santa Cruz do Cabo de Aguer on the site of the now-vanished neighborhood of Founti (named after the Portuguese word fonte meaning fountain) under a governor.

Quickly, the Portuguese were exposed to the hostility of the tribes of the region. From 1530, they were blockaded in Santa Cruz. Portuguese weakness showed itself on 12 March 1541 when Sherif Saâdien Mohammed ash-Sheikh captured the fortress of Santa Cruz de Aguer. Six hundred Portuguese survivors were taken prisoner, including the governor, Guterre de Monroy, and his daughter, Dona Mecia. The captives were redeemed by the holy men mostly from Portugal. Dona Mecia, whose husband was killed during the battle, became the wife of Sheikh Mohammed ash-Sheikh but died in childbirth in 1544. In the same year, Mohammed ash-Sheikh released the Governor Guterre de Monroy, whom he had befriended.

The Portuguese possessions in Morocco, acquired between 1505 and 1520, were regressing. After the loss of Agadir, the Portuguese were obliged to abandon Safi and Azemmour. Morocco was beginning to be less important for Portugal which now turned to India and Brazil. After 1550, the Portuguese no longer held anything in Morocco other than Mazagan (now El Jadida), Tangier and Ceuta.

The story of the Portuguese presence (from the installation in 1505 until the fall on 12 March 1541) is described in manuscript (published for the first time, with French translation, by Pierre de Cenival in 1934) entitled "Este He O Origem e Comeco e Cabo da Villa de Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gue D'Agoa de Narba", written by anonymous who was captured in 12-III-34 and was five years imprisoned in Taroudannt (cf. "Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gue d'Agoa de Narba – Estudo e Crónica", Joao Marinho e Santos, José Manuel Azevedo e Silva e Mohammed Nadir, bilingual edition, Viseu 2007).

In 1572, the Casbah was built on top of the hill by Moulay Abdallah al-Ghalib, successor to Mohammed ash-Sheikh. It was now called Agadir N'Ighir, literally: fortified granary of the hill in Tachelhit.

In the 17th century, during the reign of the Berber dynasty of Tazerwalt, Agadir was a harbour of some importance, expanding its trade with Europe. There was, however, no real port nor a wharf. Agadir traded mainly in sugar, wax, copper, hides and skins. Europeans brought their manufactured goods, particularly weapons and textiles. Under the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail (1645–1727) and his successors, the trade with France, until then an active partner regressed to the English and the Dutch.

In 1731, the town was completely destroyed by an earthquake. The harbour of Agadir was then ordered to be closed when Essaouira was established farther north.

In 1746, the Dutch set up a trading post at the foot of the Casbah under the authority of the Sultan, and undoubtedly participated in the restoration of the city. Above the door of the Casbah, the Dutch inscription can still be seen with its transcription in Arabic: "Vreest God ende eert den Kooning", which means "Fear God and honour the King", and the date 1746.

After a long period of prosperity during the reigns of the Saadian and Alawite dynasties, Agadir declined from 1760 because of the pre-eminence given to the competing port of Essaouira by the Alawite Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah who wanted to punish the Souss for rebelling against his authority. This decline lasted a century and a half. In 1789, a European traveler gave a brief description of Agadir: "It is now a ghost town, there are no more than a few houses and these are crumbling into ruins".

In 1881, Sultan Moulay Hassan reopened the harbour to trade in order to supply the expeditions he planned in the south. These expeditions, which were to reassert his authority over the Souss tribes and counter the plans of English and Spanish, were held in 1882 and 1886.

On the pretext of a call for help from German companies in the valley of the Souss, Germany decided on 1 July 1911, to extend its interests in Morocco and assert a claim on the country. It sent to the Bay of Agadir, (which harbour was, until 1881, closed to foreign trade) the SMS Panther which was quickly joined by the cruiser Berlin. Very strong international reaction, particularly from Great Britain, surprised Germany and triggered the Agadir Crisis between France and Germany. War threatened. After tough negotiations, a Franco-German treaty was finally signed on 4 November 1911, giving a free hand to France, who would be able to establish its protectorate over Morocco in return for giving up some colonies in Africa. It was only then that the gunboat Panther and the cruiser Berlin left the bay of Agadir.

Due to a miscalculation, the German sales representative Hermann Wilberg, who was sent to provide the pretext for the intervention, only arrived at Agadir three days after the Panther arrived.

In 1913, the cities (Agadir N'Ighir and Founti) totalled less than a thousand inhabitants. On 15 June 1913 French troops landed in Agadir. In 1916, the first pier was built near Founti – a simple jetty, later known as the "Portuguese jetty", which remained until the end of the 20th century. After 1920, under the French protectorate, a port was built and the city saw its first development with the construction of the old Talborjt district located on the plateau at the foot of the hill. Two years later, beside Talborjt along the faultline of the river Tildi construction of the popular district of Yahchech began.

Around 1930, Agadir was an important stop for the French airmail service Aéropostale and was frequented by Saint-Exupéry and Mermoz.

In the years from 1930, a modern central city began to be built according to the plans of the urban planner Henri Prost, director of the Urban Planning Department of the Protectorate, and his deputy Albert Laprade: a horseshoe layout based on the waterfront around a large avenue perpendicular to the waterfront – the Avenue Lyautey, since renamed Avenue du Général Kettani. In the 1950s, urban development continued under the direction of the Director of Urban Planning Morocco, Michel Ecochard.

After 1950 and the opening of the new commercial port, the city grew with fishing, canning, agriculture, and mining. It also began to open up to tourism thanks to its climate and beautiful hotels. Several years later from 1950 to 1956 Agadir organised the Grand Prix of Agadir and, from 1954 to 1956, the Moroccan Grand Prix.

In 1959, the port was visited by the yacht of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his guest, Winston Churchill.

By 1960, Agadir numbered over 40,000 residents when at 15 minutes to midnight on 29 February 1960, it was again almost totally destroyed by an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale that lasted 15 seconds, burying the city and killing more than a third of the population. The death toll was estimated at 15,000. The earthquake destroyed the ancient Casbah.

On seeing the destruction in Agadir, King Muhammad V of Morocco declared: "If Destiny decided the destruction of Agadir, its rebuilding depends on our Faith and Will."

Agadir after 1960

The current city was rebuilt 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) further south, led by the architects associated with GAMMA, including Jean-François Zevaco, Elie Azagury, Pierre Coldefy, and Claude Verdugo, with consultation from Le Corbusier. Agadir became a large city of over half a million by 2004, with a large port with four basins: the commercial port with a draft of 17 metres, triangle fishing, fishing port, and a pleasure boat port with marina. Agadir was the premier sardine port in the world in the 1980s and has a beach stretching over 10 km with fine seafront promenades. Its climate has 340 days of sunshine per year which allows for swimming all year round. The winter is warm and in summer, haze is common.

With Marrakech, Agadir is a very important centre for tourism to Morocco, and the city is the most important fishing port in the country. Business is also booming with the export of citrus fruit and vegetables produced in the fertile valley of Souss. With its white buildings, wide flowered boulevards, modern hotels and European style cafes, Agadir is world class, active and dynamic. The bay of Agadir and the nearby Bay of Taghazout are among the most beautiful bays in Africa.