Salé
Encyclopedia
Salé is a city in north-western Morocco
, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg
river, opposite the national capital Rabat
, for which it serves as a commuter town
. Founded in antiquity as a Phoenician colony, it became a haven for pirates as an independent republic
before being incorporated into Alaouite
Morocco.
The city's name is sometimes transliterated as Salli or Sallee. The National Route 6
connects it to Fes
and Meknes
in the east. Its population is approximately 800,000.
ns at approximately the same time that Chellah
, across the Bou Regreg
to the south. Researchers know a considerable amount about the Chellah colony, probably thanks to the good state of preservation of the Chellah site. In the 10th century the Banu Ifran
Berber tribe settled the area and constructed a settlement where the city currently stands. These Banu Ifran were also the builders of the 'Great Mosque of Salé'.
In Pirate Utopias
, Peter Lamborn Wilson
says:
s-turned-Barbary pirates. Salé pirates (the well-known "Salé Rovers
") roamed the seas as far as the shores of the Americas
, bringing back loot and slaves. They formed the Republic of Salé
. There is an American family, van Salee, descended from a Salé Rover, Jan Janszoon
.
The city of Salé was bombarded by the French Admiral Isaac de Razilly
on 20 July 1629 with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne, Saint-Louis, Griffon, Catherine, Hambourg, Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean. He bombarded the city and destroyed 3 corsair ships.
, for example, sparked off in Salé. A good number of government officials, decision makers and royal advisers of Morocco
were born in Salé. Salé people, the Slawis, have always had a "tribal" sense of belonging, a sense of pride that developed into a feeling of superiority towards the "berranis", i.e. Outsiders.
, marina and coastal development, all show that this is changing with the government and private development companies such as Emaar Properties
pouring money into the area.
Water supply
and wastewater
collection in Salé was irregular, with poorer and illegal housing units suffering the highest costs and most acute scarcities. Much of the city used to rely upon communal standpipes
, which was often shut down, depriving some neighbourhoods of safe drinking water
for indefinite periods of time. Nevertheless, Salé fared better than inland Moroccan locations, where water scarcity is even more acute. Recent improvements from the government, local business's and Redal has meant that this situation has improved drastically in recent times.
High un-employment used to be a serious issue to the Sale area with many textile factorys being located in this area being the only real source of work, this is recently diversing into other areas such as international call centres, electronics and recently a new "techno park" was opened, which was modeled on the Casablanca techno centre success.
The A.S.S. is the football club of the city, and the president is Abderrahmane Chokri.
The character Robinson Crusoe
, in Daniel Defoe
's novel by the same name, spends time in captivity of the local pirates, the Salé Rovers
, and at last sails off to liberty from the mouth of the Salé river.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg
Bou Regreg
The Bou Regreg is a river located in western Morocco which discharges to the Atlantic Ocean between the cities of Rabat and Salé. The estuary of this river is termed Wadi Sala....
river, opposite the national capital Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
, for which it serves as a commuter town
Commuter town
A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential, from which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Many commuter towns act as suburbs of a nearby metropolis that workers travel to daily, and many suburbs are commuter towns...
. Founded in antiquity as a Phoenician colony, it became a haven for pirates as an independent republic
Republic of Salé
The Republic of Salé was an independent corsair city-state on the Moroccan coast. It was a major piratical port during its brief existence in the 17th century.-History:-History:...
before being incorporated into Alaouite
Alaouite Dynasty
The Alaouite Dynasty is the name of the current Moroccan royal family. The name Alaouite comes from the ‘Alī of its founder Moulay Ali Cherif who became Prince of Tafilalt in 1631. His son Mulay r-Rshid was able to unite and pacify the country...
Morocco.
The city's name is sometimes transliterated as Salli or Sallee. The National Route 6
National Route 6 (Morocco)
National Route 6 is a national highway of Morocco. It is one of the most important road networks linking the west of the country to the east, connecting the capital Rabat and Salé on the west coast to Maghnia, Algeria on the border. It passes through many of Morocco's major cities such as Oujda, ...
connects it to Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
and Meknes
Meknes
Meknes is a city in northern Morocco, located from the capital Rabat and from Fes. It is served by the A2 expressway between those two cities and by the corresponding railway. Meknes was the capital of Morocco under the reign of Moulay Ismail , before it was relocated to Marrakech. The...
in the east. Its population is approximately 800,000.
History
Salé was apparently colonised by the PhoeniciaPhoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...
ns at approximately the same time that Chellah
Chellah
Chellah, or Sala Colonia is a necropolis and complex of ancient Roman Mauretania Tingitana and medieval ruins at Rabat, Morocco. It is the most ancient human settlement on the mouth of the Bou Regreg River.-History:...
, across the Bou Regreg
Bou Regreg
The Bou Regreg is a river located in western Morocco which discharges to the Atlantic Ocean between the cities of Rabat and Salé. The estuary of this river is termed Wadi Sala....
to the south. Researchers know a considerable amount about the Chellah colony, probably thanks to the good state of preservation of the Chellah site. In the 10th century the Banu Ifran
Banu Ifran
The Ifranids, also called Banu Ifran, Ifran, or the children of the Afri , were a Berber tribe prominent in the history of pre-Islamic and early Islamic North Africa....
Berber tribe settled the area and constructed a settlement where the city currently stands. These Banu Ifran were also the builders of the 'Great Mosque of Salé'.
In Pirate Utopias
Pirate utopia
Pirate utopias were described by anarchist writer Peter Lamborn Wilson in his 1995 book Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes as secret islands once used for supply purposes by pirates...
, Peter Lamborn Wilson
Peter Lamborn Wilson
Peter Lamborn Wilson , is an American political writer, essayist, and poet, known for first proposing the concept of the Temporary Autonomous Zone , based, in part, on a historical review of pirate utopias...
says:
Republic of Salé
In the 17th century, Salé became a haven for MoriscoMorisco
Moriscos or Mouriscos , meaning "Moorish", were the converted Christian inhabitants of Spain and Portugal of Muslim heritage. Over time the term was used in a pejorative sense applied to those nominal Catholics who were suspected of secretly practicing Islam.-Demographics:By the beginning of the...
s-turned-Barbary pirates. Salé pirates (the well-known "Salé Rovers
Salè Rovers
The Salé Rovers, also Sale Rovers or Salle Rovers, were a dreaded band of Barbary corsairs who eventually formed the Republic of Salé on the Moroccan coast. The most famous of the rovers was Jan Janszoon....
") roamed the seas as far as the shores of the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, bringing back loot and slaves. They formed the Republic of Salé
Republic of Salé
The Republic of Salé was an independent corsair city-state on the Moroccan coast. It was a major piratical port during its brief existence in the 17th century.-History:-History:...
. There is an American family, van Salee, descended from a Salé Rover, Jan Janszoon
Jan Janszoon
Jan Janszoon van Haarlem, commonly known as Murat Reis the younger was the first President and Grand Admiral of the Corsair Republic of Salé, Governor of Oualidia, and a Dutch pirate, one of the most notorious of the Barbary pirates from the 17th century; the most famous of the "Salé...
.
The city of Salé was bombarded by the French Admiral Isaac de Razilly
Isaac de Razilly
Isaac de Razilly was a member of the French nobility appointed a knight of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem at the age of 18. He was born at the Château d'Oiseaumelle in the Province of Touraine, France. A member of the French navy, he served for many years during which he played an important...
on 20 July 1629 with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne, Saint-Louis, Griffon, Catherine, Hambourg, Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean. He bombarded the city and destroyed 3 corsair ships.
Politic
Salé has acquired its title of nobility during the French protectorate. During the decades preceding independence of Morocco, the city was the stronghold of national resistance movements. The call to "latif" launched in Sale, relayed in the main cities of Morocco, and the petition against the Berber Dahir given to Sultan Mohamed V and Resident General of France will lead to the withdrawal of the Dahir of May 1930, collected by intellectuals of the time as an attempt to divide the Moroccan people. This text has led to the first reaction Moroccan nationalist elites against the occupier and devoted their will to resist. Many admit now that this episode was the founding act of political awareness that would lead fourteen years later the signing of the Manifest of Independence January 11, 1944 by many "Slaoui". Salé has also been deemed to have been the stronghold of the Moroccan left for many decades, where many leaders have resided.Culture
Salé has played a rich and important part in Moroccan history. The first demonstrations for independence against the FrenchFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, for example, sparked off in Salé. A good number of government officials, decision makers and royal advisers of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
were born in Salé. Salé people, the Slawis, have always had a "tribal" sense of belonging, a sense of pride that developed into a feeling of superiority towards the "berranis", i.e. Outsiders.
Modern city
Modern Salé is a highly polluted, badly planned, rapidly expanding town because of rural exodus. The city is now a large "dormitory town" with little community life, devoid of a "centre" of its own. Most of its influential and wealthy inhabitants have departed to live in Rabat on the other side of the river. Physical remnants of Salé's historical heritage are totally decrepit, pollution is prevalent and insecurity is high. However, both its geographical situation and its "melting pot" aspect make it a town with a lot of potential that so far remains untapped by the local authorities. Recent developments, including the new bridge connecting to Rabat, the new Salé-Rabat tram systemRabat-Salé tramway
The Rabat-Salé tramway is a tram system which was put into service on May 23, 2011 in the Moroccan cities of Rabat and Salé. The network has two lines for a total length of and 31 stops. It is operated by Veolia Transdev with Alstom Citadis trams....
, marina and coastal development, all show that this is changing with the government and private development companies such as Emaar Properties
Emaar Properties
Emaar Properties , based in the United Arab Emirates, is a Public Joint Stock Company listed on the Dubai Financial Market. Established in 1997 with an initial paid-up capital of AED 1 bn, Emaar Properties is currently the Persian Gulf region's largest land and real estate developer...
pouring money into the area.
Water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
and wastewater
Wastewater
Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations...
collection in Salé was irregular, with poorer and illegal housing units suffering the highest costs and most acute scarcities. Much of the city used to rely upon communal standpipes
Standpipe (street)
A standpipe is a freestanding pipe fitted with a tap which is installed outdoors to dispense water in areas which do not have a running water supply to the buildings....
, which was often shut down, depriving some neighbourhoods of safe drinking water
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
for indefinite periods of time. Nevertheless, Salé fared better than inland Moroccan locations, where water scarcity is even more acute. Recent improvements from the government, local business's and Redal has meant that this situation has improved drastically in recent times.
High un-employment used to be a serious issue to the Sale area with many textile factorys being located in this area being the only real source of work, this is recently diversing into other areas such as international call centres, electronics and recently a new "techno park" was opened, which was modeled on the Casablanca techno centre success.
The A.S.S. is the football club of the city, and the president is Abderrahmane Chokri.
Popular culture
The film Black Hawk Down was partially filmed in Salé, in particular the wide angle aerial shots with helicopters flying down the coastline.The character Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
, in Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
's novel by the same name, spends time in captivity of the local pirates, the Salé Rovers
Salè Rovers
The Salé Rovers, also Sale Rovers or Salle Rovers, were a dreaded band of Barbary corsairs who eventually formed the Republic of Salé on the Moroccan coast. The most famous of the rovers was Jan Janszoon....
, and at last sails off to liberty from the mouth of the Salé river.