History, architecture & heritage

Cannons above the harbour.
An Atlantic port’s defences.

The story of the Skala du Port, from the founding of a new port city in the 18th century to a protected monument above the fishing harbour.

The harbour tower and arches of the Skala du Port above blue fishing boats — The harbour tower and arches above the fishing boats.

A new port on the Atlantic

In the 1760s Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah founded a new port city on the Atlantic coast, turning his kingdom towards trade with Europe. Several architects worked on it, among them the French engineer Théodore Cornut and Ahmed al-Inglizi. Until the 1960s the city was generally known by its Portuguese name, Mogador.

The harbour quay leading to the tower of the Skala du Port

Bronze cannons on the platform of the Skala du Port

Built to guard the harbour

The Skala du Port was built in 1769 on the sultan’s orders, on the site of the Castelo Real, a Portuguese fortress begun in 1506, whose stones were reused. Its two fortified wings, each about 200 metres long, meet at a right angle: one runs behind the Porte de la Marine and overlooks the quay and the dry dock, the other faces the islands offshore.

Under fire in 1844

In August 1844, during the Franco-Moroccan War, a French fleet bombarded Mogador, and the harbour battery took part in the city’s defence. In 1924 the Skala du Port was listed as a historic monument, and in 2001 the Medina of Essaouira was inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The square tower of the Skala du Port with its corner turrets

The Apollonaut collection

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New Orleans, USA · Gardens & outdoors

From US$75

A tall quartz crystal on a lawn at Crystal Castle, with rose quartz stones, subtropical gardens and the forested hills of the Byron hinterland beyond

Bookable

Crystal Castle and Shambhala Gardens

Gold Coast, Australia · Gardens & outdoors

From A$100

The seven-storey red-brick former Texas School Book Depository at the corner of Elm and Houston Streets, under a blue sky

Bookable

The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

Dallas, USA · Art & culture

From US$50

The Mob Museum’s stone and brick building on a street corner, with black museum banners, palm trees and steps up to the arched entrance

Bookable

The Mob Museum

Las Vegas, USA · Art & culture

From US$76

The Golden Nugget’s great yellow sign, with GAMBL in white letters, among old signs in the Neon Boneyard at dusk

Bookable

The Neon Museum

Las Vegas, USA · Art & culture

From US$70

The Venetian’s hotel tower, its copy of the Doge’s Palace and the red-brick Campanile against a blue sky on the Las Vegas Strip

Bookable

Madame Tussauds Las Vegas

Las Vegas, USA · Art & culture

From US$68

The grey AREA15 building with its name in tall white letters, and a large black truck painted with the AREA15 name parked in front

Bookable

Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart

Las Vegas, USA · Art & culture

From US$98

The Phoenix Zoo’s curved brick entrance building beneath a shade canopy and a blue sky

Bookable

Phoenix Zoo

Phoenix, USA · Gardens & outdoors

From US$90

Reunion Tower’s geodesic sphere on its concrete shafts beside the mirrored towers of the Hyatt Regency Dallas, under a blue sky

Bookable

Reunion Tower GeO-Deck

Dallas, USA · Palaces & landmarks

From US$80

Dinosaur skeletons, among them a Tyrannosaurus and a long-necked sauropod, in the Morian Hall of Paleontology

Bookable

Houston Museum of Natural Science

Houston, USA · Art & culture

From US$50

The Downtown Aquarium building with its wave-shaped roofline and blue Aquarium signs, behind a row of palm trees

Bookable

Downtown Aquarium Houston

Houston, USA · Gardens & outdoors

From US$34

The Houston Zoo main entrance, with its large sign above a covered gateway on a sunny day

Bookable

Houston Zoo

Houston, USA · Gardens & outdoors

From US$68

The stone balcony and Gothic windows of Juliet’s House in Verona

Bookable

Juliet’s House

Verona, Italy · Art & culture

From €22

The north front and flying buttresses of Westminster Abbey above a sunlit lawn, framed by trees

Bookable

Westminster Abbey

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £64

The London Eye beside County Hall on the South Bank, seen across the River Thames under a blue sky with clouds

Bookable

London Eye

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £78

Dozens of orange-and-white clownfish swimming just below the surface of a reef tank

Bookable

SEA LIFE London Aquarium

London, United Kingdom · Gardens & outdoors

From £78

The green copper dome of the former London Planetarium beside Madame Tussauds on Marylebone Road, under a blue sky, with red telephone boxes on the pavement

Bookable

Madame Tussauds London

London, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £78

Two giraffes outside the brick Giraffe House at London Zoo, with its tall arched doorways, on a sunny day

Bookable

ZSL London Zoo

London, United Kingdom · Gardens & outdoors

From £71

The Round Tower of Windsor Castle on its mound, a flag flying above it, behind battlemented stone walls under a blue sky

Bookable

Windsor Castle

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £72

The long stone south front of Warwick Castle and its round corner tower, above the River Avon and a wide lawn

Bookable

Warwick Castle

Warwick, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £78

The timber-framed front of Shakespeare’s Birthplace on Henley Street under a blue sky

Bookable

Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £54

The Royal Yacht Britannia dressed overall with flags at her berth in Leith, under a clear blue sky

Bookable

The Royal Yacht Britannia

Edinburgh, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £50

The west front of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, with its round-towered corners and the stone fountain in the forecourt, under a blue sky

Bookable

Palace of Holyroodhouse

Edinburgh, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £54

The Outlook Tower on Castlehill, with its battlements, corner turrets and the domed rooftop chamber of the Camera Obscura against a clear blue sky

Bookable

Camera Obscura and World of Illusions

Edinburgh, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £52

The dome and a west tower of St Paul’s Cathedral rising behind the Millennium Bridge, seen across the Thames

Bookable

St Paul’s Cathedral

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £54

The White Tower rising above the outer walls of the Tower of London, seen across the Thames under a blue sky

Bookable

Tower of London

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £76

The masts, yards and rigging of the Golden Hinde rising against a bright sky beside a tall riverside building

Bookable

The Golden Hinde

London, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £12

The red-brick front of Kensington Palace with its central pediment, behind a lawn and clipped topiary in Kensington Gardens

Bookable

Kensington Palace

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £38

The long approach to the red-brick Tudor west front and Great Gatehouse of Hampton Court Palace, under a clear blue sky

Bookable

Hampton Court Palace

London, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £66

The Studio Tour entrance at Leavesden, a dark curved building with the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London and Making of Harry Potter signs, behind three giant chess pieces

Bookable

Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter

London, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £122

The south front of Blenheim Palace, a long Baroque façade of golden stone with a columned portico and corner towers, above a wide lawn

Bookable

Blenheim Palace

Oxford, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £88

The stone circle at Stonehenge on its grassy plain, sarsen uprights and lintels against a pale sky

Bookable

Stonehenge

Salisbury, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £64

Brightly painted wooden boats on the sand beside a lagoon in the Islands area of Chester Zoo

Bookable

Chester Zoo

Chester, United Kingdom · Gardens & outdoors

From £77

The west towers and the pinnacled south side of York Minster under a blue sky with white clouds

Bookable

York Minster

York, United Kingdom · Palaces & landmarks

From £40

Gentoo penguins on round stone nests beside the penguin pool at Edinburgh Zoo, with a footbridge and trees behind on a sunny day

Bookable

Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh, United Kingdom · Gardens & outdoors

From £59

The angular, silver-clad Titanic Belfast building under a deep blue sky with white clouds

Bookable

Titanic Belfast

Belfast, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £54

The two white stone domes of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich facing each other across a lawn, under a bright blue sky

Bookable

The Painted Hall, Old Royal Naval College

London, United Kingdom · Art & culture

From £38

The marble Grand Staircase of the Palais Garnier

Bookable

Palais Garnier

Paris, France · Art & culture

From €45

The Alcazaba and the walls of the Alhambra above the trees of Granada

Bookable

The Alhambra

Granada, Spain · Palaces & landmarks

From €28

Bran Castle on its rocky hill above the trees in Transylvania

Bookable

Dracula’s Castle

Brașov, Romania · Palaces & landmarks

From €28

Palm tree and palace walls reflected in the central pool at El Badi Palace

Bookable

El Badi Palace

Marrakech, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The garden courtyard and mausoleum buildings at the Saadian Tombs

Bookable

Saadian Tombs

Marrakech, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The cave opening framing the Atlantic Ocean at the Caves of Hercules

Bookable

Caves of Hercules

Tangier, Morocco · Gardens & outdoors

From €25

The Grand Courtyard of Bahia Palace with its painted galleries

Bookable

Bahia Palace

Marrakech, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The Menara Pavilion and its palms reflected in the great basin

Bookable

Menara Pavilion

Marrakech, Morocco · Gardens & outdoors

From €25

The Almoravid Koubba with its ribbed dome and stepped crenellations

Bookable

Almoravid Koubba

Marrakech, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The white walls and crenellated towers of the Perdicaris Palace above its paved terrace

Bookable

Perdicaris Palace

Tangier, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The red-ochre walls and gate tower of the Chefchaouen Kasbah, with the Rif mountains behind

Bookable

Chefchaouen Kasbah

Chefchaouen, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The white façade of Dar Sanaa, with green-tiled eaves and horseshoe-arched doors

Bookable

Dar Sanaa School of Arts and Crafts

Tétouan, Morocco · Art & culture

From €25

A restored arched gate of the Roman camp at Tamuda, with Tétouan beyond

Bookable

Tamuda

Tétouan, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The Arch of Caracalla at Volubilis, with farmland beyond

Bookable

Volubilis

Meknes, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

The tiled courtyard of the Marinid Madrasa in Salé, with its fountain and galleries

Bookable

Marinid Madrasa

Salé, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

Standing columns in the palatial quarter on the hilltop at Lixus

Bookable

Lixus

Larache, Morocco · Palaces & landmarks

From €25

Flower beds and lawns in the gardens of Ain Asserdoun, with the cascade wall beyond

Bookable

Ain Asserdoun Heritage Centre

Beni Mellal, Morocco · Art & culture

From €25

The white marble façade of Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus

Bookable

Dolmabahçe Palace

Istanbul, Türkiye · Palaces & landmarks

From €56

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