Anfa

Coordinates: 33°35′18″N 7°38′31″W / 33.58833°N 7.64194°W / 33.58833; -7.64194
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Anfa
Anfa / ⴰⵏⴼⴰ / أنفا
District of
UTC+1 (WEST
)

Anfa (

Arabic: أنفا; Spanish: Anafe; Portuguese: Anafé) was the ancient toponym for Casablanca during the classical period. The city was founded by Berbers around the 10th century BC, with the Romans under Augustus later establishing the commercial port of "Anfus" in 15 BC. Anfa is now the name of a district in the oldest part of Casablanca, located in the Casablanca-Settat region of Morocco. The district covers an area of 37.5 square kilometres (14.5 square miles), and as of 2004 had 492,787 inhabitants.[1]

Roman Anfa

Roman coin of King Juba II similar to those found in the Anfa port

The area which is today Casablanca was founded and settled by the Berbers by about the 10th century BC.[2] It was used as a port by the Phoenicians and later by the Romans.[3]

Canary islands and Madeira
probably departed from Anfa.

Anfa est une grande cité, edifiée par les Romans sur le rivage de la mer Oceane... (Leo Africanus: Anfa is a big city, built by the Romans on the ocean shore...) [1]

The Roman port, probably called Anfus, was part of a Berber client state of Rome until Emperor

Sala Colonia). However, Roman Anfa—connected mainly by commerce and by socio-cultural ties to Volubilis (autonomous from Rome since 285 AD)—lasted until the 5th century, when Vandals
conquered Roman northwestern Africa.

A Roman wreck of the 2nd century, from which were salvaged 169 silver coins, shows that the Romans appreciated this useful port for commerce. There is even evidence of oil commerce with Roman

Tingis
in the 3rd century.

Meanwhile, a large Berber tribe, the Berghouata, settled in the area between the rivers Bou Regreg to the north and Oum er-Rbia to the south of the Roman port.

Almoravids
in 1068 AD.

Abou El Kassem El Ziani refers to ancient Casablanca as "Anfa" and stated that the Zenatiyins (Berber dynasty under Arab rule) were the first people that established Anfa in the period of their settlement in Tamassna.[6]

Leo Africanus defined Anfa as a Roman city in his famous Della descrittione dell’Africa et delle cose notabili che ivi sono (Description of Africa), written in the 16th century.

Modern history

Actual Anfa was originally built and settled by the

Almoravids
in 1068.

From the 14th century, under the

pirates, which led to it being targeted by the Portuguese
, who destroyed the town in 1468. It was used by the Portuguese, who called it Casablanca, as a military fortress from 1515.

Anfa is today to the west of central Casablanca, and was the name of one of the city's two airports before being closed in 2007. The region around Casablanca is named Casa-Anfa. The neighborhood of Anfa is the most upper-class and westernized in the city.

Subdivisions

The district is divided into three arrondissements:

See also

References

  1. ^ "La Préfecture de Casablanca (in French)". Casablanca.ma. Archived from the original on 26 March 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  2. ^ Casablanca - Jewish Virtual Library
  3. ^ "LexicOrient". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  4. ^ "Roman Casablanca". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2015-08-14.
  5. ^ Roman Anfa
  6. ^ Berber Casablanca Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Anfa&oldid=1218878831"
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article: Anfa. Articles is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license; additional terms may apply.Privacy Policy