Stock Photo - Morocco- El Jadida BerberMazghan, Arabic: ´new´ is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, in the province of El Jadida It has a population of 144,440 2004 census From the sea, El Jadida has a very un-Moorish appearance, it has massive Portuguese walls of hewn stone El Jadida, previously known as Mazagan Portuguese: Mazagão, was seized in 1502 by the Portuguese, and they controlled this city until 1769, when they abandoned Mazagão Its inhabitants were evacuated to Brazil, where they founded new settlement Nova Mazagão now in Amapá El Jadida was then taken over by Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah El Jadida fortified town Manueline cistern of the El Jadida fortress The Portuguese Fortified City of Mazagan was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004, on the basis of its status as an ´outstanding example of the interchange of influences between European and Moroccan cultures´ and as an ´early example of the realisation of the Renaissance ideals integrated with Portuguese construction technology´ UNESCO World Heritage Site According to UNESCO, the most important buildings from the Portuguese period are the cistern, and the Manueline Church of the Assumption