Ksar es-Seghir
Ksar as-Saghir (also Ksar Sghir or al - Qasr al- Saghir; Arabic: القصر الصغير ) is a Moroccan town of about 11,000 inhabitants ( 2004). In the 15-16. Century was the Spanish or Portuguese place name Alcázarseguir or Alcácer - Ceguer. Translated into German, all designations means " Small Fortress ".
Location
Ksar as-Saghir is (33 km east ) on a sheltered sandy bay and strategically important to the Strait of Gibraltar about halfway between Tangier ( about 38 miles west) and Ceuta. Politically the city belongs to the Moroccan province Fahs Anjra.
Population
From the living about half in smaller villages in the surrounding countryside inhabitants, most members of the different Berber tribes of the Rif Mountains, which have long been living as farmers here. However, is predominantly spoken Arabic; the Rifdialekte hardly play a role.
Economy
For a long time despite their proximity to the cities of Tangier and Tétouan a very rural appearance of the Province Fahs Anjra. In the foreground of the economy was agriculture, which served mainly of self-sufficiency in the past few centuries, however, produced already during the colonial period and after independence of Morocco (1956 ) to a high degree for the urban markets. Ksar as-Saghir also lived off fishing with small wooden boats. After the completion of the A4 motorway and the partial opening of the nearby Super Port of Tangier -Med, a profound change in the economic sector, however, is in sight.
History
You may already known to the Phoenicians as an anchorage, the Romans called it - according to Ptolemy - Lissa or Exilissa. In Byzantine times the place was called Exilyssa (Greek: Εξιλύσσα ). During the Islamic conquest of North Africa ( 708/ 09), the square was probably the first time fixed and settled - at least suggests the common among the Spanish Umayyad name Ksar Mesmouda out that Berbers were resident here from the tribe of Masmuda. In 971 the Umayyad Caliph of Cordoba Al- Hakam II (r. 961-976 ) tried the place to conquer, to subjugate here from all over North Africa. In the 11th century, the Islamic historian Abū ʿ Ubayd al - Bakri named the fort as Al- Qasr al - Awwal ( "first" or " old castle "). The Almoravids and Almohads took advantage of the shallow bay, and the place of the now Ksar al - Majar meant as a shipbuilding area, from which they took their sailing to Al -Andalus. The 1286 gekommenene to power Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf Meriniden was here - perhaps by the reduced model of the 1258, destroyed by the Mongols city of Baghdad - in 1287 a circular city with 29 towers and three gates built.
Towards the end of merinidischen rule degenerated into the place to a pirates nest at the Strait of Gibraltar, which by a massive army squad (reportedly 25,000 men in 200 ships ) was attacked and conquered by the Portuguese King Alfonso V in 1458, which furthermore largely had the idea from here, all of North Africa to conquer. The last Merinidensultan Abdalhaqq II (r. 1421-1465 ) tried twice unsuccessfully to retake the place that the Portuguese Alcácer - Ceguer called. They surrounded the approximately 800 inhabitants city with a wall and connected him via an enclosed by high walls Ship Canal to the Mediterranean. Because of the high cost of the military presence was decided by the Portuguese King John III. in 1533 to abandon the place, but it took the realization of this plan until the year 1549; at their departure, the Portuguese destroyed the ship channel by zuschütteten him with the rubble of the city walls.
In 1609 landed here during the reign of Philip III. (reigned 1598-1621 ) of Spain expelled the Moors. Ksar as-Saghir had become a small fishing village, it is in some ways even today.
News
The Moroccan Navy built near Ksar as-Saghir in 2008-2010 a base. About 12 km north-east is the new super port Tanger- Med, which was partially opened in 2007, however, will be finally completed until around 2020. The new A4 motorway leads directly south past the town; the long time sleepy town has now its own motorway connection.
Others
How otherwise only in Tangier is reflected in the small town of Ksar as-Saghir the eventful history of Morocco. The Musée de la Kasbah of Tangier has its own small, but extremely interesting exhibition room with finds from Ksar as-Saghir.