Azemmour or Azamor is a Moroccan

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

 city, on the left bank of the Oum Er-Rbia River

Oum Er-Rbia River

Oum Er-Rbia , is a river in central Morocco. The river is 555 km long and is the longest in the country. With an average water debit of 105 m3/s, Oum Er-Rbia is the second largest river in Morocco after the Sebou River. It takes source in the Middle Atlas and passes through the city of Khénifra and...

, 75 km southwest of Casablanca

Casablanca

Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...

. Although it was a dependency of the King of Fez

Kingdom of Fez

The Kingdom of Fez or Wattasid sultanate was the name given to the northern part of Morocco between 1472 and 1554 with its capital at Fez.The Wattasid are a branch of the Zenete, a Berber clan whose origins lie in what is now modern day Libya....

, Azemmour had great autonomy. In 1486 its inhabitants became vassal

Vassal

A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...

s and tributaries of João II of Portugal. Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

 confirmed the treaty in 1497 and the city paid 10 000 savéis every year. Later, unrest started to grow and thus Manuel sent a small fleet commanded by João de Meneses to conquer the city in 1508.

In 1513 Azemmour's governor Moulay Zayam refused to pay the tribute and mustered a powerful, well-equipped army. Manuel

Manuel I of Portugal

Manuel I , the Fortunate , 14th king of Portugal and the Algarves was the son of Infante Ferdinand, Duke of Viseu, , by his wife, Infanta Beatrice of Portugal...

 responded to this challenge by sending a massive fleet of five hundred ships and fifteen thousand soldiers (Bergreen, 19). James, Duke of Braganza

Jaime, Duke of Braganza

James was the older son of Ferdinand II, 3rd Duke of Braganza and of his wife, Isabella of Viseu and he became the fourth Duke of Braganza following his father's death.His father and one of his uncles were...

 led this army and on 1 September he conquered the city with no resistance from its inhabitants. Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan

Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....

, the man famed for leading the first-ever circumnavigation of the earth, was among the Portuguese soldiers there and lost his horse in skirmishes outside the city. However, Portuguese control of the city lasted for a short period as it was abandoned by João III of Portugal in 1541 due to economic difficulties.

The patron saint of Azemmour is Abu Shuayb

Abu Shuayb

Abu Shuayb Ayub Ibn Said Erredad al-Sanhaji Assariya is the patron saint of Azemmour, Morocco. His mausoleum in Azemmour was built on the order of Mohammed ben Abdallah. It stands on the remains of a Roman building. Abu Shuayb lived in the time of the Almohad and Almoravid dynasties...

. His mausoleum was built on the order of Mohammed ben Abdallah. Each year a moussem is celebrated to honour him.

One of the most famous persons from Azemmour is without doubt Estevanico

Estevanico

Estevanico , "Black Stephen", "Esteban", "Esteban the Moor", "Estevan", "Estebanico", "Stephen the Black", "Stephen the Moor", "Stephen Dorantes" after his owner Andres Dorantes, and "Little Stephen") was the first known person born in Africa to have arrived in the present-day continental United...

 (Esteban the Moor) who is considered to be the first post-Columbian Berber

Berber people

Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...

 to set foot in the New World.

The Azemmour Festival is held annually on July.

Azemmour's beach, referred to locally as Azemmour Plage, is a place for surfing

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

 and kitesurfing

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...

.

Street art in Medina: Old city's walls are decorated by several local artists.