Mogador island
Encyclopedia
Mogador island is the main island of the Iles Purpuraires
in front of Essaouira
. It is about 3 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide, and lies about 1.5 kilometers from the opposite beach of Essaouira.
The Carthaginian navigator Hanno
visited and established a trading post there in the area in the 5th century BCE, and Phoenician artifacts have been found on the island.
Around the end of the 1st century BC or early 1st century AD, Juba II
established a Tyrian purple
factory, processing the murex
and purpura shells found in the intertidal rocks at Essaouira and the Iles Purpuraires
. This dye
colored the purple stripe in Imperial Roman
Senatorial
toga
s.
A Roman house with foundations, artifacts and coins were also found on the island.
In 1844, the French Navy
invested and captured the island in the Bombardment of Mogador
.
It has now been designated as a natural reserve, and it cannot be visited without an official authorization.
Iles Purpuraires
Iles Purpuraires are a set of small islands off the western coast of Morocco at the bay located at Essaouira. These islands were settled in antiquity by the Phoenicians, chiefly to exploit certain marine resources and as a promontory fort...
in front of Essaouira
Essaouira
Mogador redirects here, for the hamlet in Surrey see Mogador, Surrey.Essaouira is a city in the western Moroccan economic region of Marrakech-Tensift-Al Haouz, on the Atlantic coast. Since the 16th century, the city has also been known by its Portuguese name of Mogador or Mogadore...
. It is about 3 kilometers long and 1.5 kilometers wide, and lies about 1.5 kilometers from the opposite beach of Essaouira.
The Carthaginian navigator Hanno
Hanno the Navigator
Hanno the Navigator was a Carthaginian explorer c. 500 BC, best known for his naval exploration of the African coast...
visited and established a trading post there in the area in the 5th century BCE, and Phoenician artifacts have been found on the island.
Around the end of the 1st century BC or early 1st century AD, Juba II
Juba II
Juba II or Juba II of Numidia was a king of Numidia and then later moved to Mauretania. His first wife was Cleopatra Selene II, daughter to Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony.-Early life:Juba II was a prince of Berber descent from North Africa...
established a Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple , also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red natural dye, which is extracted from sea snails, and which was possibly first produced by the ancient Phoenicians...
factory, processing the murex
Murex
Murex is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly calle "murexes" or "rock snails"...
and purpura shells found in the intertidal rocks at Essaouira and the Iles Purpuraires
Iles Purpuraires
Iles Purpuraires are a set of small islands off the western coast of Morocco at the bay located at Essaouira. These islands were settled in antiquity by the Phoenicians, chiefly to exploit certain marine resources and as a promontory fort...
. This dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
colored the purple stripe in Imperial Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Senatorial
Roman Senate
The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic, however, it was not an elected body, but one whose members were appointed by the consuls, and later by the censors. After a magistrate served his term in office, it usually was followed with automatic...
toga
Toga
The toga, a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a cloth of perhaps 20 ft in length which was wrapped around the body and was generally worn over a tunic. The toga was made of wool, and the tunic under it often was made of linen. After the 2nd century BC, the toga was a garment worn...
s.
A Roman house with foundations, artifacts and coins were also found on the island.
In 1844, the French Navy
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
invested and captured the island in the Bombardment of Mogador
Bombardment of Mogador
The Bombardment of Mogador took place in August 1844, when French Navy forces under the Prince de Joinville attacked the Moroccan city of Mogador, modern Essaouira, and the island facing the city, Mogador island. The campaign was part of the First Franco-Moroccan War...
.
It has now been designated as a natural reserve, and it cannot be visited without an official authorization.