The muslim saint Sidi Mogdoul
was buried here in the middle ages and his name is important
to this place. A common understanding is that the name Mogador
, likely is a deformation of the name Sidi Mogdoul.
Amougdoul, Sidi Magdoul, Magdoul , Mogadouro,
The tomb of Sidi Magdoul
It is also said he was a Scottish
mariner with name MacDougal who got wrecked
on the coast some centuries ago and acquired the status—and
pronunciation of his name—by which he is now respected.
And from (Migdoul) Mogdoul to Mogador is
just one step and the name Mougdoul exists only in Essaouira
in the muselman world.
But historians confirms that Sidi Magdoul
was belonging to the Regraga
Brotherhood.
The Portuguese
called the town Mogadouro, the Spanish
Mogadour - Mogador and the
French Mogador.
The name Mogador
was identified in the world map of Medici in 1357
and on a map designed by Pizzigani 1367. 400 years
later the Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdallah
renewed the city and called it Souira (Souera)
Essaouira was called Souira, long before its construction in 1767 by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah. Souira is the feminine diminutive of 'sour', which means enclosure or wall. It is in reference to the ruins of the Castello Real castle which was built by the Portuguese in 1505 that the natives called the remains of the castle: souira, small enclosure. (Omar Lahdar)
The traveler Drake
mentions Domegador in 1577 and this name
is found in the maps published in Holland by Judocus Hondius
in the sixteenth century.
The Capuchin Fathers
of Toutaine report that in 1628 the Sultan Abed
al-Malik was planning to use Christian slaves to
build a fortified port face the Atlantic islands and even
mention the existence of a fort on an island.
The Prince of Razilly who came to hunt down
pirates in 1629 after having bombed the port city of Salé,
mentions the name of Mongador, as does the Hondius Atlas
in 1608. Trade with Mogador would have existed before the
creation of the city. Thus, there was a commercial exchanges
between Mogador and Dieppe in 1660,
The French used the name Mogador
during the protectorate 1912 - 1956.
With the independence of Morocco, the town took the official
name of Essaouira!
Es Soueïra meaning in Arabic the beautiful image.
Another interpretation is that the term derives from the Arabic
word elmoussawara meaning the walled.
The berbers (Imazighen)
call it Tassourt! (Ta Souart.)
Essaouira
- a town with many names!
Karikon Teikos,Thamuziga,
Amagdoul, Mogadouro, Mogadour, Mougadir, Megoudar, Mogador,
Tassourt, Souïra are all names of the town Essaouira.....
and there are more names of
Essaouira:
