Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the Skala du Port and the port city around it.
On this page
Fortress, port and monument
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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1506
A Portuguese fortress
King Manuel I of Portugal orders a fortress, the Castelo Real, built at Mogador.
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1760s
A new port city
Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah founds the modern city and its port, planned by several architects, among them Théodore Cornut.
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1769
The Skala du Port is built
The harbour battery rises on the sultan’s orders, on the site of the Castelo Real, whose stones are reused.
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About 1770
The sea gate
The Porte de la Marine, joined to the battery, carries the date 1184 in the Islamic calendar.
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1844
Under fire
During the Franco-Moroccan War a French fleet bombards Mogador, and the harbour battery takes part in the city’s defence.
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1924
A protected monument
A dahir of 30 August lists the Skala du Port as a historic monument.
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1960s
From Mogador to Essaouira
The city, long known by its Portuguese name, Mogador, becomes generally known as Essaouira.
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2001
A World Heritage medina
The Medina of Essaouira is inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the people and places; the sources below, checked 8 November 2026, provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
- Wikipedia: Sqala du Port
- Wikipedia: Essaouira
- Wikipedia: Medina of Essaouira
- Wikipedia: Bombardment of Mogador
- UNESCO: Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador)
Links lead to the original publishers.