La cittadella portoghese dell'antica Mazagan in Marocco (XVI secolo)

Mazagan is the ancient name of the present-day coastal city of El-Jadida, also known by its former toponyms al-Brija and al-Mahdouma. The fortified city, located in north-western Morocco, was built by the Portuguese in the early 16th century and then conquered by the Moroccans in 1769. The Portuguese built the city by fortifying it with thick walls and a castle to accommodate several thousand inhabitants, all originally from Portugal. Its defences and ramparts are considered the first example of Portuguese Renaissance military architecture in Morocco. The site of Mazagan still retains significant traces of the Portuguese era, as evidenced by the buildings that can still be seen today, including the fortress with its cistern once used as an armoury, the robust walls and the Church of the Assumption, the latter built in the Manueline style. This contribution analyses the different architectural characteristics of the citadel of Mazagan, focusing on the urban evolution of the various buildings present that still allow a comparison between military architecture of Portuguese origin and Moroccan architecture of the same period.