Mohammedia

Mohammedia (Arabic: المحمدية, romanized: al-muḥammadiyya), known until 1960 as Fedala (Arabic: فضالة), is a port city on the west coast of Morocco between Casablanca and Rabat in the region of Casablanca-Settat. It hosts the most important oil refinery of Morocco, the Samir Refinery, which makes it the center of the Moroccan petroleum industry. It has a population of 208,612 according to the 2014 Moroccan census.[2] The harbor, which is now Mohammedia, was originally named Fedala (فضالة). This name comes from the Arabic words Fadl Allah (فضل الله) which means "favor of God". According to Graberg de Hemsö, it comes from Fayḍ Allāh, meaning "bounty of God".[3] Traces still exist of its business role under the Almoravid dynasty. It was frequented in the 14th and 15th centuries by merchant ships from Europe seeking cereals and dried fruits. In 1773, the Sultan Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah made of Fédala a grains warehouse of Tamasna province and built the Kasbah to protect the shops for traders. He built the white masjid Al Atik as well.