ESSAOUIRA (English pronunciation: /ˌɛsəˈwɪərə/; Arabic: الصويرة‎, Berber: M-ugadir) is a windy city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast.
It was formerly known, by the 16th century Portuguese as Mogador or Mogadore.
The Berber name means the wall, a reference to the fortress walls that originally enclosed the city.

The Medina of Essaouira is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.

Essaouira is an exceptional example of a late-18th-century fortified town, built according to the principles of contemporary European military architecture in a North African context.
Since its foundation, it has been a major international trading seaport, linking Morocco and its Saharan hinterland with Europe and the rest of the world.

EL JADIDA (Berber: ⵎⴰⵣⵖⴰⵏ Mazghan, Portuguese: Mazagão, Arabic:الجديدة "new") is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida.
It was seized in 1502 by the Portuguese, and they controlled this city until 1769, when they abandoned Mazagão and were evacuated to Brazil.

The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.
The Portuguese fortification of Mazagan, now part of the city of El Jadida, 90-km southwest of Casablanca, was built as a fortified colony on the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century. It was taken over by the Moroccans in 1769. The fortification with its bastions and ramparts is an early example of Renaissance military design. The surviving Portuguese buildings include the cistern and the Church of the Assumption, built in the Manueline style of late Gothic architecture. The Portuguese City of Mazagan - one of the early settlements of the Portuguese explorers in West Africa on the route to India - is an outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures, well reflected in architecture, technology, and town planning.