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
Hassan I of Morocco military and diplomatic program on the periphery. Nephew of the sultan Mohammed IV, Moulay Hassan was proclaimed sultan of Morocco on the death of his uncle in 1873. His first action was to crush an urban revolt in the capital Fes. The new sultan was committed to continue the modernization and reform policy of his father. Particularly well known is the journey Hassan I undertook in 1893. He went from Fez (leaving on 29 June) to Marrakech, passing through the Tafilalt, the sand dunes of Erg Chebbi, the valley of the Dades with the majestic gorges of the Todra, Ouarzazate,