Bourj El Baroud is a

ruin Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

located somewhat south of the mouth of

Oued Ksob Oued Ksob is a river in western Morocco that discharges to the Atlantic Ocean on a broad beach slightly south of the city of Essaouira and slightly north of the village of Diabat. The mouth of the river along with the nearby Iles Purpuraires is kn ...

near

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ar, الصويرة, aṣ-Ṣawīra; shi, ⵜⴰⵚⵚⵓⵔⵜ, Taṣṣort, formerly ''Amegdul''), known until the 1960s as Mogador, is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It ha ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. This structure is located on a broad sandy beach directly across from

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...

n ruins at the southeast tip of the main islet of

Iles Purpuraires Iles Purpuraires are a set of small islands off the western coast of Morocco at the bay located at Essaouira, the largest of which is Mogador Island. These islands were settled in antiquity by the Phoenicians, chiefly to exploit certain marine re ...

. (Hogan, 2007) This beach is likely the one referred to in

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

' account of the Phoenicians' trading with the

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

s of this part of western Morocco. About one kilometre inland is the village of

Diabat Diabat is a village in western Morocco near the coast of the Atlantic Ocean about five kilometres south of the city of Essaouira. (Ellingham, 2007) The Bordj El Berod is a ruined watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortifica ...

In popular culture

The locals tell that the ruin inspired the Jimi Hendrix song " Castles Made of Sand" on The Jimi Hendrix Experience album Axis: Bold As Love. In fact, Hendrix only visited Essaouria once, in 1969, two years after that album was made, so the story is presumably false. The castle was built by

Mohammed ben Abdallah ''Sidi'' Mohammed ben Abdallah ''al-Khatib'' ( ar, سيدي محمد بن عبد الله الخطيب), known as Mohammed III ( ar, محمد الثالث), born in 1710 in Fes and died on 9 April 1790 in Meknes, was the Sultan of Morocco from 175 ...

in the 18th century, but is mistakenly referred to as "The Portuguese Castle" by local guides. This is a confusion with the Portuguese castle built in 1506 in the Essaouira city harbour by the Portuguese, the

Castelo Real Castelo Real was a Portuguese castle established in Mogador, now Essaouira in Morocco, by the Portuguese in 1506."By 1506, at Mogador, his Castelo Real had risen firm and strong, in spite of opposition from fierce fanatical Berbers" ''The reign ...

References

C.Michael Hogan, ''Mogador: promontory fort'', The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, Nov. 2, 2007
* Herodotus (circa 425-450 BC) ''Histories'', vol iv, 196

Literature

* TAST, Brigitte; TAST, Hans-Juergen. ''Still the wind cries Jimi. Hendrix in Marokko'', Schellerten, 2012, Ancient Morocco Ruins in Morocco {{Morocco-geo-stub