Ksar Seghir: a Moroccan-Portuguese archaeological heritage in the Strait of Gibraltar
by André Teixeira, Abdelatif El-Boudjay and Joana Bento Torres
Ksar Seghir is an archaeological site in northern Morocco, situated between Ceuta and Tangier.
Since the 12th century, it was an important port and shipbuilding area during the Almohad and Merinid Islamic dynasties, a crossing zone between North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. In 1458 it was conquered by the Portuguese, who remained for almost a century. Afterwards, it was abandoned and fell into ruins.
The site was only systematically documented between 1974 and 1981, by a North American and Moroccan mission. Since 2008 it has been the subject of an enhancement and musealisation project by the government of Morocco, that also includes a Moroccan-Portuguese archaeological mission.
In this exhibition we revisit Ksar Seghir’s past through its most relevant remains, the archaeological work that allowed its rediscovery and the pulse of the surrounding region in a space of common history shared by Morocco and Portugal.
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