Azemmour

The word Azemmour comes from the Berber word Azemmur ("wild olive tree").{{Cite encyclopedia|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopedia-of-arabic-language-and-linguistics/toponyms-EALL_COM_0347|title=Toponyms|publisher=Brill Publishers|language=en|page=511|first=Stefan|last=Wild|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics|volume=4|year=2009|editor-first=Kees|editor-last=Versteegh|location=Leiden/Boston|isbn=9789004144767}}{{Cite encyclopedia|year=1986|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor4-first=E.|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor1-first=P.|editor1-last=Bearman|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|isbn=9004081143|title=Azammūr|page=809|volume=I|edition=2nd|publication-place=Leiden, Netherlands|orig-year=1960|first=R.|last=Ricard|url=https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/azammur-SIM_0942|publisher=Brill Publishers|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam|editor5-first=W.P.}}

Azemmour is generally identified as the Punic Azama,{{sfnp|Fodor|1967|p=271}} latinized as Asama.{{sfnp|Lacroix|1998|p=170}}

Before 1486, it was a dependency of the King of Fez. In 1486 its inhabitants became vassals and tributaries of João II of Portugal.{{cite book|author=Lhoussain Simour|title=Recollecting History beyond Borders: Captives, Acrobats, Dancers and the Moroccan-American Narrative of Encounters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lu2mBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA55|date=19 November 2014|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-7142-6|page=55}}

In 1513 Azemmour's governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute and mustered a powerful, well-equipped army. Manuel responded to this challenge by sending a massive fleet of 500 ships and 15 thousand soldiers (Bergreen, 19). James, Duke of Braganza led this army and on September 1 he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants. Ferdinand Magellan, the man famed for leading the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth, was among the Portuguese soldiers there; he lost his horse in skirmishes outside the city.{{cite book|author=EPUB 2-3|title=Ferdinand Magellan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZPtbAgAAQBAJ|date=23 October 2013|publisher=Infobase Learning|isbn=978-1-4381-4851-9}} Portuguese control of the city lasted only for a short period; it was abandoned by João III of Portugal in 1541 due to his court's economic difficulties.{{cite book|author1=Leonor Freire Costa|author2=Pedro Lains|author3=Susana Münch Miranda|title=An Economic History of Portugal, 1143–2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3yL-CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|date=3 May 2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-03554-6|page=43}}

Azemmour is located on the Oum Er-Rbia River {{convert|75|km}} west of Casablanca.

Azemmour's beach is a place for surfing and kitesurfing.{{cite web|title=Azemmour Travel Guide - VirtualTourist|url=https://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Africa/Morocco/Province_d_El_Jadida/Azemmour-2117651/TravelGuide-Azemmour.html|website=www.virtualtourist.com|access-date=21 October 2016}} Also called Haouzia, the area's flora includes eucalyptus and pine.{{cite book|author=DK|title=DK Eyewitness Travel Guide Morocco|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9EO3BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA117|date=2 February 2015|publisher=DK Publishing|isbn=978-1-4654-3832-4|page=117}}

A spring festival used to be held annually in Azemmour in March. It was first held in 2007.{{cite book|author=Marcello Balbo|title=The Medina: Restoration and Conservation of Historic Islamic Cities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IJxwNK2YVQkC&pg=PA160|date=15 May 2012|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84885-713-1|page=160}} The patron saint of Azemmour is Abu Shuayb. His mausoleum was built on the order of Mohammed ben Abdallah. Each year, a moussem is celebrated to honour him. The Old City's walls are decorated by several local artists.Travel guide of Lonely Planet: Morocco, 9th Edition Feb 2009, {{ISBN|978-1-74104-971-8}} p. 149. The city features a medina, which has three parts, a Jewish mellah, a kasbah, and the old medina. A historic lighthouse called Sidi Boubeker is located {{convert|8|km}} north of Azemmour.

• Jaafar Aksikas, Moroccan American author and intellectual
• Estevanico, also known as Esteban the Moor, was enslaved and traveled with a Spanish expedition to North America in 1527. He is the first African to travel with explorers in North America and was one of four men out of several hundred to survive shipwrecks on the Florida and Texas coasts, Native American slavery and attacks, and other setbacks over a six-year period before he and his party reached safety in a Spanish colonial town.{{cite book|author=Edward E. Curtis|title=Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=owZCMZpYamMC&pg=PA172|year=2010|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-1-4381-3040-8|page=172}}
• Abdallah Laroui, Moroccan historian, novelist and philosopher

File:Braun Azemmour UBHD.jpg|Azemmour 16th century.

File:ETH-BIB-Azemmour mit gr. Mosquée Moulay Bou ChaĎb-Dia 247-09215.tif|Azemmour in 1936

File:ETH-BIB-Azemmour mit Spiegelung im Oum er-Rbia-Dia 247-03993-1 (cropped).tif|Azemmour from the Oum Rabia in 1936

File:Azemmour synagogue.jpg|Synagogue.

File:Azemmour embroidery, Morocco, 18th century.jpg|Azemmour embroidery, 18th century

• Battle of Azemmour

{{commons category|Azemmour}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{citation |last=Fodor |first=Eugene |date=1967 |title=Morocco 1967 |series=Fodor's Modern Guides |publisher=David McKay Co |location=Philadelphia }}.
• {{citation |last=Lacroix |first=W.F.G. |title=Africa in Antiquity: A Linguistic and Toponymic Analysis of Ptolemy's Map of Africa, Together with a Discussion of Ophir, Punt, and Hanno's Voyage |publisher=Verlag für Entwicklungspolitik Saarbrücken GmbH |date=1998 |series=Nijmegen Studies in Development and Cultural Change, No.{{nbsp}}28 }}.

{{Casablanca-Settat}}

{{Phoenician cities and colonies}}

{{Portuguese overseas empire}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Former Portuguese colonies

Category:Kingdom of the Algarve

Category:Populated places in El Jadida Province

Category:Phoenician colonies in Morocco