The name of the city is derived from the Amazigh word for a communal or fortified granary, of which there are many in the region. It has been an important port city on the Atlantic Coast, 10 km north of where the Oued Souss flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The city's strategic location on the end of the Saharan caravan routes and the harbor, near if not on the location of the ancient Roman city of Portus Risadir. It was occupied by the Portuguese from 1505 to 1541/911-948 AH, when it was conquered by the forces of the Saʿdī' Sultan Mohammed al-Shaykh. In 1572/980 AH, the casbah was built in 1572/982 AH by Sultan Abdallah al-Ghalib.
Earthquakes and tidal waves in 1732/1144 AH and 1755/1168, an earthquake destroyed much of the city, starting a decline that was accelerated by the Alawite dynasty, which transferred much of the port's traffic to
Mogador (now Essaouira), in order to punish rebellious tribes of the region. Similarly, Sultan Moulay Hassan reopened the harbor in 1881 in order to supply the expeditions he planned to bring the tribes of the south back under Alawite control.
In the Moroccan Crisis of 1911, the German gunboat
Panther appeared offshore, claiming “to protect German interests.” This led to occupation by French troops in 1913. The modern port was constructed in 1914. In 1960, just four years after Moroccan independence, the city was destroyed by an earthquake and the tidal wave it generated. The city was rebuilt south of the original location, including the
Aga Khan Award for Architecture recipient project the
Courtyard Houses and several other projects designed by the Modernist architect
Jean-François Zevaco.
Today Agadir is a major tourism center and fishing port. It is the capital of the Souss-Massa Region in the Prefecture of Agadir-Ida Ou Tanane.
SOURCES:
“Agadir.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, March 18, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agadir. Archived at
https://perma.cc/GM8L-EMEB.
“Agadir, Morocco.” Jewish Virtual Library. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE), 2008. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/agadir. Archived at
https://perma.cc/TPB9-RM4M.
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Agadir." Encyclopedia Britannica, May 1, 2013. https://www.britannica.com/place/Agadir-Morocco.
