Safi, Morocco The Portuguese fortress built to protect the city is still there today. After 1541, the city played a major role in Morocco as one of the safest and biggest seaports in the country. Many ambassadors to the Saadian and Alaouite kings during the 16th–18th centuries came to Morocco via Asfi; its proximity to Marrakech, then capital of Morocco, helped expand the maritime trade in the city. Louis De Chénier, consul of the French court in Morocco in 1767, reported that the city was the only usable seaport at the time. A French Navy captive, Bidé de Maurville, who wrote the
Morocco "The Middle West") and "" (, meaning "The Nearest West"). The basis of Morocco's English name is Marrakesh, its capital under the Almoravid dynasty and Almohad Caliphate. The origin of the name Marrakesh is disputed, but is most likely from the Berber words "amur (n) akush" (ⴰⵎⵓⵔ ⵏ ⴰⴽⵓⵛ) or "Land of God". The modern Berber name for Marrakesh is "Mṛṛakc" (in the Berber Latin script). In Turkish, Morocco is known as "Fas", a name derived from its ancient capital of Fes. However, this was not the case in other parts of the Islamic world: until the middle of the