Agadir (Arabic: أكادير or أڭادير, romanized: ʾagādīr, pronounced [ʔaɡaːdiːr]; Tachelhit: ⴰⴳⴰⴷⵉⵔ) is a major city in Morocco, on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean near the foot of the Atlas Mountains, just north of the point where the Souss River flows into the ocean, and 509 kilometres (316 mi) south of Casablanca.

It is now the largest seaside resort in Morocco, where foreign tourists and many residents are attracted by an unusually mild year-round climate.

[a][citation needed] In the late 15th century the Portuguese began to occupy positions along the Moroccan coast.

[18][16][19][20] He built a wooden castle at the foot of a hill, near a spring,[16] and a Portuguese colony named Santa Cruz do Cabo do Gué was created.

[16] The Portuguese presence elicited growing hostility from the local population of the Sous region, who initiated a years-long economic and military blockade of the port.

[16] His descendants went on to found the Sa'di dynasty which rose to power over the following decades and eventually established their capital at Marrakesh.

In 1540 the Sa'di sultan Muhammad al-Shaykh occupied the main hill (now Agadir Oufla) above the Portuguese and installed artillery to prepare an attack on the fortress below.

[16] Six hundred Portuguese survivors were taken prisoner, including the governor, Guterre de Monroy, and his daughter, Dona Mecia.

Dona Mecia, whose husband was killed during the battle, became the wife of Sheikh Mohammed ash-Sheikh but died in childbirth in 1544.

[21][full citation needed] After this, the Portuguese were forced to abandon most of the Moroccan areas that they had acquired control of between 1505 and 1520, including Agadir, Safi and Azemmour.

"Santa Cruz do Cabo de Gue d'Agoa de Narba – Estudo e Crónica", Joao Marinho e Santos, José Manuel Azevedo e Silva e Mohammed Nadir, bilingual edition, Viseu 2007[full citation needed]).

After the Sa'di victory the site was then left unoccupied for years until Muhammad al-Shaykh's successor, Abdallah al-Ghalib (r. 1557–1574), built a new fortress (or kasbah) on the hilltop.

[b] In the 17th century, during the reign of the Berber dynasty of Tazerwalt, Agadir was a harbour of some importance, expanding its trade with Europe.

In 1881, Sultan Moulay Hassan reopened the harbour to trade in order to supply the expeditions he planned in the south.

[25]On the pretext of a call for help from German companies in the valley of the Souss, Germany decided on 1 July 1911, to extend its interests in Morocco and assert a claim on the country.

It sent to the bay of Agadir, (which harbour was, until 1881, closed to foreign trade) the SMS Panther which was quickly joined by the cruiser Berlin.

After 1920, under the French protectorate, a port was built and the city saw its first development with the construction of the old Talborjt district located on the plateau at the foot of the hill.

In 1959, the port was visited by the yacht of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and his guest, Winston Churchill.

[27] By 1960, Agadir numbered over 40,000 residents when at 15 minutes to midnight on 29 February 1960, it was again almost totally destroyed by an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 on the Richter scale that lasted 15 seconds, burying the city and killing more than a third of the population.

The current city was rebuilt 1.6 kilometres (1 mi) further south, led by the architects associated with GAMMA, including Jean-François Zevaco, Elie Azagury, Pierre Coldefy, and Claude Verdugo,[30] with consultation from Le Corbusier.

Agadir was the premier sardine port in the world in the 1980s and has a beach stretching over 10 km with fine seafront promenades.

Business is also booming with the export of citrus fruit and vegetables produced in the fertile valley of Souss.

Above the front door; today, the original inscription in Arabic and in English reads: "God, the Nation, the King."

Of this fortress there remains, after the earthquake of 29 February 1960, a restored long high wall that surrounds land that is not buildable.

[citation needed] The hill bears the inscription in Arabic: "God, Country, King" which, like the walls, is illuminated at night.

Overlooking the waterfront and Wadi Tildi, this old district (whose name is sometimes spelled Talbordjt) was once a shopping area and very lively with its large square where there was a weekly market, hotels, schools, mosque.

La Médina is a handicrafts space created in 1992 by the Italian artist Coco Polizzi, at Ben Sergao, a district close to Agadir 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) from the city centre.

The daytime temperature generally stays in the 20s °C (70s °F) every day with averages around 27 °C (81 °F), with the winter highs typically reaching 21 °C (70 °F) in January.

[37] Occasionally however, the region experiences winds from the Sahara called Chergui, which may exceptionally and for two to five days raise the heat above 40 °C (104 °F).

The Avenue du Port, the main artery of the Anza district, is surrounded by canneries and has many popular small restaurants adjacent to the fish market.