Skala de la Ville

The sea bastion on the western rampart of the medina, facing directly into the Atlantic. A platform of Portuguese-era cannons — bronze and iron, still mounted on their carriages — pointing out to sea from behind crenellated walls. This is the image of Essaouira that appears on every postcard.

The skala was built in the 18th century by Sultan Mohammed III as part of the city's fortifications, but the cannon positions and the military architecture draw on Portuguese models — Essaouira (then Mogador) had been a Portuguese trading post before the Saadians expelled them. Théodore Cornut, the French engineer who designed the medina, placed the skala to defend the harbour mouth from naval attack.

The cannons were never fired in anger. By the time they were installed, the age of naval bombardment of Moroccan ports was mostly over. They are European-made — Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese — acquired through trade or captured from wrecked ships.

The platform runs the full length of the western wall. The light in the afternoon is the best — low sun, long shadows from the cannons, the Iles Purpuraires visible offshore. Essaouira's other skala, the Skala du Port, defends the harbour side and is less visited.