Tangier,that beautiful and captivating city of Morocco which inspired a multitude of artists it is as a North African open window on Europe showing many beautiful things which conquer every visitor.
You can look at across that window and you can see from there the British Protectorate of Gibraltar,the Spanish Port of Algeciras,the coastal town of Tarifa famous for windsurfing and its golden sands and all the splendid Costa de la Luz and Europe.
Two continents so close but you are in Maghreb at only 12,0 kilometres of distance,a different world where the rhythms of life,lifestyle and culture are different where the locals sit down many times in the bars or near the ancient bastions to look at Europe and drinking a traditional mint tea waiting for tomorrow and hoping it will be better than yesterday.
The image of Europe there just some kilometres away a land which is the dream of many.The famous French painter Henri Matisse with his masterpiece La Fenêtre à Tanger,(the Window at Tangier) identified in all its essence what is really that Maghreb City.
Tangier is often linked and remembered with legends and mythology those one about Hercules and Atlantis,many people and different versions consider that place and its immediate surroundings in the Northern Morocco are the end of the world in that place called the Pillars of Hercules.
A lot of legends more surround that city of approximately 900.000 inhabitants.Tangier is a mysterious and enigmatic centre,it is the place where the Atlantic Ocean embraces the Mediterranean Sea,favourite place during the 2nd war of spies and secret meetings,ancient colony of Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans,Berbers and Arabs.
That place was always a land of desired conquest by others in different times such Portuguese,French, British and Spaniards.
I discovered Tangier more walking in its narrow streets,strolling its Kasbah with its multitudes of smells and aroma essences,in a sunset on the uptown point of the city Plateau de Marchand, next to Bab Fahs the gate of the Medina,in the Almendubia Gardens,I learnt probably more from that,than in many tourist guides,books and brochures I read before to discover this special place.
That city so full of contrasts and all to discover with pleasure,it is like a splendid,magic box with inside several surprises linked to art,culture,a very particular lifestyle,real 100%,,curiosities and peculiarities but where nothing is artificial and all is totally authentic.
Another face of Tangier reflects the old glamour which that Moroccan centre has lived but is still present along Boulevard Pasteur with its chic and nostalgic Cafes in Place de France,reminiscent of the French Belle Epoque when Tangier was a destination of artists,writers, intellectuals and prominent people of the International culture and the country was a Protectorate under French rule.
Many prominent characters found in Tangier the same charm that in other most celebrated cities and famed resorts thanks to the presence of the iconic,emblematic and glamorous Hotel Continental,Hotel Minzah both always frequented by actors,Jet Setters and artists but also with the lights and lively evenings spent at the Café Hafa and the Cafe Detroit between a fine brandy or a glass of fine Champagne.
The famous American novelist William Burroughs once said about that city of Maghreb :"Tangier seems to exist in several dimensions,the fact merges into dream,and dreams erupt into the real world."
Tangier is not only an ordinary and common geographic point of Africa,it has been during its long story full of events,a crossroad of ancient civilisations,meeting point of different cultures,but despite Europe which appears so close is also so far,that window always opened is as an eternal witness of events,stories and
always with something to see in its chronological story as an endless movie.
The first name of Tangier according historical documents was Tanja, a Berber word meaning wetland which would lead you to prove the existence of an Amazigh settlement,the most ancient Berber civilisation settled there before the arrival of the Phoenicians.
Amazigh is the name which designated the first Berbers inhabitants of El Zaghreb and the term Berber is simply a derivation of the word barbarian with which the ancient Greeks named all the people who were not Hellenic or also no Greek speaking.
The most famous legend about Tangier is that one linked to the foundation of a former settlement by the Giant of Atlas,Antaeus,son of Poseidon,giving it the name Ting,later called Tingis by the Romans.
.In Greek mythology,Antaeus was the son of Poseidon and Gea,he was that giant narrated in several legends who forced to fight him all the travellers who dared to cross his domains.Once up and dead the people who tried to fight against that mythological figure and died their skulls adorned the temple dedicated to his father.
The wife Tingis gave the name to the territory which included the famous gardens of Hesperides,so famed in several legends for its fruit,often narrated and described as golden apples.The extension of those gardens stretching from the current Tangier to the ancient Lixus today called Ceuta,the Spanish town in Moroccan territory.
The legend about Hercules son of Jupiter linked to Tangier area started when he came in the domains of that giant of the Atlas and he was challenged to death by him.
The traces of that mythological struggle according legends still exist in the local geography.Every time during that epic duel when Antaeus lied down,he immediately regained all his strength on contact with the earth thanks the help of Gea, his mother.
Finally, Hercules with the Giant of Atlas could,choking as he held him in the air.In the course of that titanic duel,Hercules with his sable opened the earth generating what is today the Strait of Gibraltar.
A legend says that Antaeus tomb lies in one hill around the city,a hill called by Arabs Al Mound Charif.That is the legend linked to that place when the famous Hercules sable opened the Strait of Gibraltar in two columns, symbolising for many years,the limits of our old world ; The legend of Hercules pillars.
Another version of the legend, is that the opening of the strait was a coup of shoulder generated by Antaeus who launched the Greek rival against a rock opening the earth with the impact of his heavy body.
Another narration which connects Hercules after the victorious duel is that the Hellenic hero took as wife the widow of Atlas called Tingis who bore him a son called Sofax who founded a city called Tingis as tribute to his mother and Sofax also gave origin to the earliest Royal Dynasties of Mauritania.
The legend of Hercules also attributed to the creation of the caves south of the Cape Spartel,on the Atlantic coast,a promontory which with Cap Malabata form the wide bay of Tangier.
Those caves of are probably originated from the Neolithic industry.Indeed, the inhabitants of the region extracted circular pieces of limestone which were then used as millstones.The legend adds that the body of Antaeus was buried by him under the hill,which,incidentally,still has a strong anthropomorphic profile.
About other mysteries and further legends,after there is another related to the several Moorish conquests.It says that a ray of sun illuminated the Caliph Almoravib looking towards north the horizon from the heights of Tangier promontory and it is narrated that such sun light directly came from the God Allah with a message by Prophet Mohamed to go to conquer new lands.
Those countries visible at a short distance were Europe and the Iberian Peninsula with the current Spain and Portugal.
Tangier and its region have also been cited as one of the scenes of the exploits of Odysseus, the hero held the no less famous poem of Homer's Odyssey.The caves of Hercules would have been those of the Cyclops Polyphemus,son of Poseidon who finished one eyed in the famous epic poem with protagonist Ulysses.
The history apart all those legends which can be suggestive is rich of events with important periods and fantastic times of splendour.
Although it was an ancient Berber settlement were the Phoenicians who gave prosperity and wealthy to the to the former centre,coming there and founding the first Reign of Tiro with a legendary busy port trading spices and stones.The Phoenicians founded a colony in 1450 B.C in the area of Marshan a plateau in the uptown area of the city on which is preserved an ancient necropolis nowadays.
Between the years 475 and 450 B.C the Chartaginians as new rulers founded there a former camp and later they built an important centre of trade based on the exchange of gold,metals,wool,ivory and also slaves,crossing the Sahara Desert with the help of the local Berbers as guides.
Destroyed the Carthaginian Empire by the Romans in the famous Punic wars,Tangier was conquered by the powerful Imperial Rome becoming a Roman province named by Emperor Claudius and elevated to administrative and military as Capital of a colony called Colonia Julia Mauritania Tingitania.
The Emperor Augustus in 38 B.C installed in the current town a Kingdom with the first Roman-African Kings Juba I and Juba II.After the Roman Empire fall Tangier was attacked by Visighots, Vandals and pirates,that wealthy centre fell in a sad decline until the year 683 a date corresponding to the first Arab occupation led by the Sultan Al Mousa and the General Al Nefi.
Since there Tangier became part of a Caliphat,until the famous Almoravibs and Almohads dynasties who ruled until the second half of the 15th century before the city fall in the hands of the Portuguese in the year 1471.
That centre was fortified by the new rulers from Portugal who installed batteries of artillery and also built a hospital and a Church.In the year 1581 Tangier fell under Spanish influence after that famous event in which the Portuguese Kingdom was incorporated in the Spanish Crown until the year 1644 date in which Portugal conquered its Independence.
The Portuguese Queen Caterina of Bragança with her marriage with the Earl of Peterborough gave the key of Tangier to Great Britain who transformed the city making it a free port until the attack of the Sultan Molay Ismail.
That event generated that the British abandoned the city after destroying it in the year 1684.In the year 1786 Tangier became the diplomatic capital of the Kingdom of Morocco settling foreign diplomats,the Consulate of Spain and the first office outside USA.
In the year 1906 the conference of Algeciras in Andalusia-Spain was controlled by the diplomatic corps and in 1923 coinciding with the introduction of a Spanish protectorate (with Tetouan),starting a new international era which changed the city,attracting many writers,artists,entrepreneurs,traders and politicians who gave that Maghreb city a cosmopolitan aspect and atmosphere.
After the independence of Morocco in the year 1956 after several years of French rule the city lost its international character gradually adapting to new situation,politic,social and with its several changes.
Tangier lived glamorous period with the famous Beat generation who chose Tangier as favourite destination for city breaks and short summer holidays.
The narrow beaches surrounded by mountains and beautiful places as Larache,Asylah,Cap Spartel Spartel,Ferdiua, Meliech,Sidi Kacena with a charming mysterious atmosphere captured the attention of that people and the promotion was practically immediate with several European tourists more than attracted
by such natural paradise.
Tangier opens its charming scenery to the visitor in Place du 9 avril 1947 (1947 9th April Square) also known as Souk Al Dbarra,the Great Souk which is one of the largest square of the city.The name of that square symbolises the visit of the future King Mohammed V,former Sultan Ben Mohamed Yousef who in that date next to that square made a great speech and he claimed the Independence for Tangier and the end of the French rule.In the centre of the square there is a big fountain in modern style,according as position and arrangement to the most classic French urban architecture.That square is also the main gateway to the Medina ; the old city.Before of the extension of the modern Tangier in the early 20th century,that place was a market of the former old town for that the name Souk.
Currently it is outside from the ancient Medina walls after a reorganisation during French occupation and for centuries and until today that place has lived to the rhythm of a large crowd celebrating events,exchanging of goods and materialising several meeting.
The square is well known as mentioned before as Souk Al Dbarra and the French called it Le Grand Socco.The name Grand Souk continued to be used because it is the place where traditionally is celebrated a big market called Al Yutia with lots of stalls where you will find fresh fish,vegetables,meats,several women from the Rif area selling oranges,lemons and every kind of fruit.The square has a very lively atmosphere and it is an important meeting point for locals and tourists as well.
Adjacent the square there is the huge and emblematic Jardin de la Mendoubia (The Garden of Mendoubia) which is one of the many green spaces of Tangier.That garden is an ideal place for families to get some fresh air in the middle of the city and from there starts a long ramp leading to the iconic monument now restored on which is recorded the speech which Mohamed V gave on April 9, 1947 claiming Tangier Independence.
That monument is surrounded by a beautiful lush vegetation where you can admire a a huge fig tree master expressing the historical and ecological value of that place and a dragon,according an ancient legend 800 years old and there are furthermore 30 cannons remands of old French and British warships,
In addition in that place you can see an engraved memorial reminding King Mohamed V and his message.Al Mendoubia had other important historical means for Tangier and Morocco because,it was also the residence of the Mendoub who was the responsible for monitoring the Sultan to foreign powers during the time when Tangier was an international area.
That place was also the seat of central government representative to the International Administration at the time of the regime in 1923,so a site venerated,remembered and absolutely emblematic for the history of the entire country.
Bab Fahs is a monumental arched gate linking the Grand Souk to the Medina.Built in the late 19th century,it was part of the architectonic complex composed of the extramural doors with Bab Al Zra Rahbat and Bab Al Fouqiya but those two last gates no longer exist.
A curiosity about the name Bab Fahs is that it means in Arabic language Door to anywhere and there are two means about that,the first is linked to a religious topic and in Islam culture the God Allah is with you anywhere in front of a door of your life or destination.
The second in related to an urban aspect,that gate is the main entrance to the Medina,the town life,the and crossing that gate you can visit many places and going anywhere.
That construction was built using stones from the Rif mountains with a huge arch embedded in a frame whose spandrels are equipped with medallions and the set is covered by a crown of green gables supported by two half columns.
Also that gate had a relevant importance for the locals because it always represented an important cross point and transit for several operations related to trade and commerce.
Tangier Medina nowadays keeps many beautiful attractions,although much changed by European influences over the past 150 years with the construction of many building for residences of diplomats and European people.
The Old Town,the Medina, is a complex of small and narrow streets a typical labyrinth developed on two long streets,Gzennaia located behind the Mendoubia Garden and parallel to Rue de la Kasbah and Siaghine one of the most important street in that urban area.
Siaghine in Arabic language means Silversmith street.It was inhabited many years ago by a big Jewish Colony with many shops and with intense trade activities and it was also called the Jewish street.It also has a relevant historic importance because it was besides the Roman Decumanus Maximus of the ancient Roman Tingis.
The Decumanus Maximus is the main axis founded in Roman town or city crossing the Cardus the centre where there was the Forum,the politic and social centre of the city linking two extreme points of the town.
In the case of Tangier that ancient Decumanus linked the port to the West gate called Bab Dbarra ,the Grand Souk where you started your visit.
Many years ago that place was also Tangier's main silver market and from there the name Siaghine, nowadays it is still linked to that with the presence of some jewellery and stores reminding a little bit what was located there in the past,furthermore there are also some shopes selling clothes,electronic and handicrafts articles.
Touahine is a typical Moroccan street with white buildings next to the ancient Medina walls and along it is situated Lourin Foundation, an exposition introducing the history of Tangier from the late 19th century to the 60s displaying old photographs,posters,pictures of notable people as Sir Winston Churchill and other prominent people who visited Tangier in different periods.
Rue d´Amerique (America Street) leads to a beautiful building with a magnificent courtyard decorated with tiles,columns,arches and kufic decorations on walls in typical Moorish style.That building was donated to the United States of America in the year 1821 by Sultan Moulay Souleiman.
It was present to the 5th American President James Monroe to house the headquarters of the American Consulate in Morocco. It was the first property acquired by USA abroad and in the year 2002, the USA Congress decided to close that prestigious place but keeping it as a historical monument.
That building means a lot for American people,during the American Revolution so many American ships called at Tangier that the Continental Congress sought recognition from the Emperor of Morocco.That was accorded in the year 1777, making Morocco the first country to recognise the fledgling American State and negotiation of a formal treaty began in the year 1783 terminated in the signing in 1786 with a Moroccan- American Treaty of Friendship.It is so famous that event when John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the American signatories,and more you can see a letter by President George Washington to the Sultan Moulay Abdellah.With the end of the French Protectorate in the year 1956, all the embassies moved to the capital Rabat,but the American Legation continued with its Consulate in Tangier for other five years until a new one was built outside the old Medina.
Furthermore the American legation served as Arabic language school for American diplomats for eight years and also as Peace Corps training centre. A curiosity more,if something has popularised the American Legation in Tangier is also the Cinema.You know the famous movie Casablanca,that successful movie which tells about a love story in the middle of the 2nd World War and will remain in the history of the century thanks to the fantastic performance of Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart.
Although the movie title is of another Moroccan city,Casablanca (I wrote a post about that city if you are interested) ,long part of that legendary movie was filmed in Tangier,using as set the American Legation.
Currently,the building houses an area which exhibits a finest collection of paintings,you can see some paintings by the famed French artist Delacroix and a hall dedicated to the famous American writer Paul Bowles who died in Tangier in the year 1999.
The Spanish Church of the Immaculate Conception,also called La Purisima,was erected in 1871,when Spanish government acquired the building for a residential development of Franciscan monks in Catholic mission in Morocco.The inauguration of that Religious Temple took place in 1880 and it is dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin.You can admire a small patio with orange trees reminding the famous Andalusian courtyards of Cordoba and Seville and a beautiful tower.Nearby the Church you can see a painted wall of the British Bank of West Africa located there in the past and also the building Dar Niaba, the old French Legation residence dated the year 1820 with a beautiful Moorish courtyard and a charming rectangular stoned portal.Dhakil Souk is the famous small but picturesque Souk market of Tangier.Currently,it is a small square with cafes,restaurants,some hostels and surrounded by a labyrinth of narrow streets.That place inspired many writers and artists such as William Burroughs,Allen Ginsberg and Camille Saint-Saëns.
Dakhiil Souk was the place of the Roman Forum when the Roman Empire founded the centre of the ancient Tingis,the famous Roman Cardus centre of the political life of the former Imperial Tangier.
There,it is very convenient to buy something pretty cheap and interesting, bargaining and it is an advantage if you speak French or Arabic,some sellers also speaks Spanish language.The Souk consists in a sort of rectangular area with streets on the left side formed by the square,Sinaghine,Al Mouahidin and Al Oued Aherdane square.
In that place you can find a lot of interesting articles offering beautiful Moroccan handcrafts products, carpets,clothes silk and wooden objects and also worth a visit the Berber shops Majid Raïss and the Coin de l´Artisanate Berber.
Another interesting street where you can find something of interesting such as jewelry ,sandals,hats,carpets, clothes and many other products,is Rue des Almohades called also by the French Rue des Chrétiens.
Djamaa El Kebir is that street also named Rue de la Marine by French because it is the artery which links the Medina to the harbour.In that place you can admire Djamaa Kebira the Mosque well known as The Great Mosque.
That Muslim Religious Temple has a long history,built originally on an ancient Roman construction,it believed it was erected over the ancient Roman Hercules temple in a place where some several remains were found.
The Portuguese in the 17th century erected a Church called Catedral del Espiritu Santo (Cathedral of Holy Spirit) and later in the year 1684 commissioned by the Sultan Pacha Rifi Moulay Ismail was built a Mosque.After the abandonment of Tangier by the British the Great Mosque Djamaa Kebira was restored and enlarged three times.
The architectonic style is typically Alawi with an high Minaret tower decorated with ceramic elements, elements,splendid wide doors and some sections are in dark green colour,wide decorated windows,white walls and a rectangular perimeter.
Naturally if you are not Muslim you can not visit the interiors just like other Mosques you will see there.On a side of the Mosque there is a space dedicated to the purification.It is an ancient Muslim ritual which begins by washing hands,face,ears,neck and finally the feet before to come in the Mosque.
In front of the Mosque you can see the Medersa the Muslim school,the theological school of Koran,the most important Institute to prepare future Iman,Muezzin and Koran teachers.
Behind the Mosque is situated Borj Al Marsa which is the ancient battery port and now place to enjoy a beautiful view overlooking the old harbour and Tangier bay.
The nearest Bab Al Bahr is an ancient gate of which was the door of the merchants coming from the sea and introducing the goods in the Tangier markets.Bab Al Bahr means sea gate and from there you can admire a fantastic view towards Gibraltar and the Andalusian Coast.
Not far from Bab El Bahr you can see Borj Al Dar Baroud, an impressive military monument,the largest batteries of Tangier built by Portuguese called in that period A Coracha which in Portuguese means the armour used later by British troops with the name York English fortress.The battery consists in a series of Armstrong guns facing the bay and its construction is dated the 18th century.
After moving through the area which now serves as parking and formerly the Borj es Salaam, Ben Allal or Borj Borj Chahcu, the defencive area of the city in which shared the Portuguese era cannons to defend the bay and having a direct access to the port.
After moving through the area which now serves as parking and formerly the Borj es Salaam, Ben Allal or Borj Borj Chahcu, the defencive area of the city in which shared the Portuguese era cannons to defend the bay and having a direct access to the port.
Close to that military monument is situated the famous Hotel Continental in Dar Al Baroud street.It is a historic Hotel of Tangier,built in in 1865 by a Scottish Jewish citizen and it was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh at that time.
After moving through the area which now serves as parking and formerly the Borj es Salaam, Ben Allal or Borj Borj Chahcu, the defencive area of the city in which shared the Portuguese era cannons to defend the bay and having a direct access to the port.
From there you will reach a large terrace, framed by an ornate railing overlooking the harbour at the entrance to find a bazaar which brings together all kinds of leather goods and just beside the glass door which leads to the Hotel lobby with a big piano,gramophone and all the furniture and objects which recall the era of the glamorous Tangier.
On the upper floors,the rooms are spread over wide corridors,each with its own style, form and decoration some of which overlooking the harbour with a spectacular view of Cape Malabata.
Long been the quintessential Hotel in Tangier,which housed the great travellers of the early 20th century,over the years this spacious hotel has acquired an air of decline but which still captivates many people.
That Hotel is very famous about its past considered a legend in the Glamorous Tangier period.It was the favourite place of Swedish actress Greta Garbo,always surrounded by admirers in the Hotel Cafe bar courtyard and the Hotel also hosted many times the American writer Paul Bowles and the Italian Cinema Director Bernardo Bertolucci.
That famed Italian filmmaker loved to spend his weekends there and he used the Hotel as set to film scenes for one of his great movie masterpiece The Sheltering Sky.Other important people was often hosted in the Hotel such as the actor Omar Sharif and the singer Keith Richards among others.
The interiors are typically in Moorish style,windows surrounded by stylish stones,marble staircases,rooms covered with tiles,wooden ceilings painted in a very charming style, patios with curved arches supported by medium columns with capitals,a big piano in the main hall and terracotta floors.
You can compare the interior design to an ancient Nasrid Palace of Granada or going with your deep imagination to the Old Palaces in Baghdad with the splendour of the thousands and one nights novel.
The Hotel has a restaurant with menu a la carte,international cuisine,ideal place to taste French, Moroccan Italian or Spanish cuisine.The quality is excellent,ideal to enjoy a typical Couscous or Crepes a la Parisienne with beef fillet,an italian Carpaccio with Mediterranean salad or an Andalusian Gazpacho with squid.
In the street Rue Hosni there is a white domed building a Zaouia the Sidi Hosni Zauia the tomb of Sidi Hosni a holy man from Tangier.The so called Zaouia are tombs,a sort of small mausoleum located in little decorated building,generally white and the colours most used as complement are dark green,blue or a tonality of a dark red tonality.
Next to that building is situated Sidi Hosni Palace the ancient Tangier residence of the Holy Man.It is a typical construction in Almoravib style with intricate windows,the doors are decorated with carved cedar wood and the courtyards are a remind of the ancient Damascus palaces with polychrome tiles and charming decorated floors.
Apart the architectonic value the Palace is also famous because it was purchased in 1956 by the world's richest American woman Barbara Woolworth Hutton married seven times and one of her husbands was the famous Hollywood star Cary Grant
Since that year the rich history of that woman has graced the pages of the newspapers most glamorous of the city,the house became famous creating in numerous reports from Tangier, the parties were often identified with the hippies of the 60's,with crazy evening parties ending in the morning.
The Tangier Kasbah is another highlight of the city.The Kasbah is the oldest part of an Arab centre located inside the Medina and generally surrounded by walls.
Tangier Kasbah was built using the old former Portuguese fortification perimeter walls,it opens to the outside by three gates such as Bab Al Kasba Bab Al Aassa and Bab Lah Raha and crossing those gates there are notable buildings of historic interest.
Developed on the highest point of the city it has excellent views over Gibraltar and the Andalusian coast, coast,looking at Tarifa,Algeciras and the Costa de la Luz,undoubtedly there are not many places you can see two continents at the same time so close from a beautiful place like that one.
The gate Bab Al Aassa worth a mention,it has a slightly broken arch lined by a lobed arch part of a rectangular frame and the central body is flanked by two pilasters, engaged.That place is well known as the gateway to the beatings,it was there where the wrongdoers were punished and beaten with batons.
In the Kasbah the first attraction very relevant is a huge courtyard called Al Mechouar and the impressive palace of Dar El Makhzen.That Palace is the great Sultan´s residence and the history of that building says that it was used since ancient times,probably it was an ancient Almoravib palace and successively the it hosted the Portuguese Governor as the domus praefecti engraved of the 16th century shows.
That majestic buiilding was built on the ruins of another by Pacha Al Ahmad,son of Ali Bin Al Ahman Al Rifi the Caliph of Rif, first governor of Tangier after recovery by Moulay Ismail in British hands in the year 1684, built the present.
The architectonic exterior structure vaguely seems a fortress with a castellated facade with triple windows on the first floor and a series of decorated columns.The entrance consists in a horseshoe arch with small decoration tiles.
The interior has a courtyard surrounded by white marble columns in a classical Italian style with Corinthian capitals,on the facing tiles and horizontal in the centre of ornamental marble fountain guarded by an octagonal figure and beautiful carved wooden ceilings.
The Al Kubba Lakbira is the big dome with cupola silhouette with Arabic calligraphy in black letters on white background,what you can see written it is a hymn that celebrates the beauty of the palace which nowadays the Palace is a museum consisting in eight rooms.
In the first room you can admire the safes of the Sultan had to raise money through customs,the most important room houses the mosaic known as The Journey of Venus.Venus as you know was known in Roman mythology as the goddess of love and beauty and that mosaic shows the Goddess topless on the boat trip, admired both by the sailors as the sirens of the sea.
The third room is dedicated to know the ancient Muslim burial rites,furthermore you can admire a life-size model of a Carthaginian tomb,along with a small group of lead sarcophagi and a child buried in a tomb of clay.
Another room introduces you the history of Islam in Tangier since 682 when the Caliph Al Okba Ben Nifi came to conquer the area.The official predominant Muslim introduction of the territory anyway came in the year 707 with the Vizir Al Muza Ben Nusayr,from there Tangier became part of the Almoravids Kingdom and officially incorporated under Muslim rule.
As you know it is from there the origin of the Moorish conquest of the Iberian Peninsula which started in the year 711 and ending in 1492 with the famous fall of Granada.The museum also houses a collection of Moroccan ceramics and the courtyards are decorated with Spanish antique guns,all that in a typical example of Almoravid gardens.
Before leaving the gardens of the Sultan you have to cross a courtyard with planted orange and lemon trees and just off the museum,descending a staircase there is the famous Cafe Detroit from which you can enjoy spectacular views of the city.
From the Palace you can turn on the right side of the building in Rue Al Ibn Abbu in the Yadaa Kasbah where is situated the Mosque of the Tangier Kasbah.That Muslim Religious building is one of the oldest of the city but no one knows the exact year of construction.
It is certain it was built over another building by Al Abdellah Ali the Pasha, probably after the Sultan Palace,so after the year 1684.Later the son of the Pasha enlarged the Mosque with an octagonal polychrome minaret very similar than the tower you can see in Andalusia and in particular in Seville,the famous Giralda.
The architectonic style is typically from the Almoravid Dynasty with decorated windows,it is a typical Arab style covering the windows or the arches with networks diamonds in stone or marble and zellij intewinded.
The zelij is a particular hand cut polychrome tiles made of natural materials utilising symbolic geometry and abstract patterns,capable of expressing contemplative and ecstatic thoughts through their designs.
It is very common to find that kind of decorations in all Morocco,part of Tunisia and in the Middle East,in particular in in Damascus and Aleppo,there are also some examples in Saudi Arabia,in Europe the most important examples are in Andalusia, in Seville,Cordoba and Granada.
Next to the Mosque,there is the interesting Zaoiua Sidi Ahmed.It is the tomb of a noble and rich local man who dedicated all his life to the Islam and the Koran.The designs of fate got his lands and fortune and he died loosing all his properties.On the door,the famous French painter Matisse immortalised the Marabou Broad Street,a picturesque street next to the Zaouia.From Kasbah square taking the street Rue Riad Sultan and crossing the square Place Tabor you can see the gate Bab Marchan crossing it you are coming in the famous Marchan district.Bab Marchan is dated 18th century and it was the Tangier northern gate of the ancient Roman Tingis,that door is flanked by two military batteries and during the British occupation of Tangier it was called Peterborough Gate.
Along Rue Mohamed Hadj Tazi you can enjoy a fantastic view of the Strait of Gibraltar and the beautiful Dar El Mandoub Palace.That palace is an impressive building,which was the ancient residence of Al Tazi Al Mandoub the Sultan´s representative who sold the palace to the American millionaire Malcolm Forbes and currently the building is called Forbes Museum.
The rich American Magnate established inside the building a huge collection of miniature soldiers,over than 130000 pieces and miniature battles simulations of the famous Waterloo and Trafalgar among others.
Next to that palace is situated the famous Cafe Hafa,perched on a cliff and founded in the year 1920.It provides a fantastic flowered terrace with an impressive view on the Tangier Bay and the Spanish coast and it has been a usual meeting point of artists,painters,actors,writers,intellectuals,such as John Lennon and The Beatles, Greta Garbo,Carey Grant,Sean Connery,The Rolling Stones,Paul Bowles among others.
The ancient Tangier Roman-Punic Necropolis was probably in previous times a Phoenician cemetery and it is also the final phase of Roman occupation.The necropolis dates from the late 4th century and the tombs are situated next the walls of the Kasbah facing the Straits of Gibraltar in Plateau the Marchan.
The complex consists of 98 tombs of which over 50 were carved in the form of chest directly on the rock of the plateau.It is an important archaeological site where many objects and materials about Carthaginian and Roman civilisations were found and not long time ago near the street Rue Ibn Al Abbar during some new excavations other 28 rock tombs were found.
From Bab Kasbah taking Rue de la Kasbah and walking next to the ancient walls,you can see the Zaouia Ibn Battuta.It is the tomb of the famous Al Ibn Battuta,a famous traveller and explorer with several trips to Andalusia,Syria,Egypt,Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Senegal,Mauritania and Ivory Coast.
He was born in 1304 and reported to Tangier his experiences and what he saw with important and relevant documentations and objects and Tangier people to thank that important local figure dedicated him a Zaouia.
The Nouvelle Ville the new city is very different than the Medina and Kasbah but equally very interestingand attractive.
The first attraction in the new area is Djamaa Al Jida a historical Mosque built in the year 1263 by Sultan Moulay Abdul Al Rahman.It is more a complex of Muslim Religious Temples because in front of that Mosque there is another smaller one,Djamaa Al Issawa separated by a small square.
the Minaret is impressive,a typical construction in Almoravis style covered by polychrome pottery doing part of the the family of the Minarets you can see in Marrakech in the Mosque of Al Koutoubia,in Rabat Minaret Hassan II, and Seville with the Torre de la Giralda.The body structure of Djamaa Al Jida Mosque is very common in buildings you can see in the Middle East in Damascus for architectonic lines,size of the facade,perimeter and decorations.
Very close to Rue Sidi Bouabibi a busy street you are close to the Jardin de Al Mendoubia once again,leading to the Mausoleum of Sidi Bourrakiya known as Mohamed Al Haij Al Bakkal.That man was a Charif Idrissi.Charif in Arabic language means,teacher,scientist,and Idrissi is the Dinasty.He was a direct descendant of Al Abu Muhammad Al Idrissi an Arab Almoravib from Ceuta ,teacher,geographer, and also cartographer who lived many years in Sicily where he died in Palermo.Sidi Bourrakiya or Mohamed Al Haij Al Bakkal during the reign of Sultan Moulay Ismail in the 17th century,joined the national movement against the occupation of Tangier by the English.
He was also a Sufi an expert of Islamic religion and also with a skilled preparation in psychology with all the knowledge and skills of soul and its purification,furthermore he was also Iman in the Medersa,the Muslim school.
The mausoleum consists in a big tomb covered by a Koubba.A Koubba is the typical dome part of an used as a pool for ablutions of people or also covering a Zaouia,a polygonal marble or a stoned cupola fixed like roof on a structure and built on the top of a building.In that case the Koubba is built on the mausoleum,other details of that place are a little chapel with a minaret and a monumental arched gate.
Rue d´Angleterre (England street) is the door of the old British District of Tangier where you can admire the Church of St.Andrews,the Anglican Church built in the year 1883 in an area which was a present by the Sultan Moulay Al Hassan.
It is an architectonic construction not typically British,much more it is a symbiosis between Arab-Berber Moroccan and Andalusian Mudejar,styles.The roof of the Church is carved and the Lord's Prayer written in Arabic around the presbytery.
Behind the altar there is a cleft which indicates the direction of La Mecca the Holy Arabian city.Next to the Church,you can see a cemetery containing the graves of the famous journalist Walter Harris who worked for the Times magazine in the late 19th century and he lived in Tangier.
In the nearest Public Gardens you can admire the stylish Reginald Lister fountain built in the year 1927. Reginald Lister was an important politician and minister of United Kingdom,he arranged many difficult diplomatic and political situations in Tangier.
The fountain is an unique model in Morocco and it is a great mix of culture styles.The edge of the bowl is adorned with an inscription in Latin dedicated to him,that construction has a neoclassic Italian style aspect and the gardens surrounding are a purely reminiscent of typical Moorish-Andalusian,artistically you can consider it a hymn to the Tangier cosmopolitan culture which lived in the past.
In Rue d´Hollande (Holland Street) is situated the legendary Hotel Ville de France an abandoned building but it is interesting to see the place where artists as Matisse and Delacroix were often hosted.
If you are interested about contemporary art,worth a visit Mohamed Drissi Museum a Contemporary Art exhibition hosted in an elegant Villa erected in the year 1890,a white building with green shutters which previously housed the British Consulate until the early 1980 and six years later the building was rehabilitated as House of Culture becoming a museum in the year 1990.
It is very interesting to discover there the best masterpieces of Moroccan contemporary artists and their evolution taking inspirations by French,Spanish and Italian schools influenced by Matisse,Picasso and De Chirico among others.
The first generation of Moroccan modern painters will show you as a sort of symbiosis between traditional local art and Western abstract painting.
The Museum consists in six rooms one is dedicated to the Spanish School another one perhaps the highlight of that museum is the room hosting the French school,furthermore you can visit another one devoted to artists who have considered the problem of the creation of Morocco.
That group violently reacted against cultural alienation and artistic exercised in Morocco since the colonisation and refused any form of expression limited to the superficial imitation of a model imported art.
The 5th room is a section giving you an idea about the steps about art in Morocco which is thought to release the canvas of the Moroccan art in a rural scenery.
The last room is probably the most typically abstract,introducing works in which the artists challenge the geometric symmetry and used symbols with different meanings,a kind of style which has a purely technical and scientific orientation transporting your mind to discover different means and human concepts.
Next to the Tangier Tennis Club in Avenue Hassan II is situated Djamaa Mohamed V which is the Mosque dedicated to the famous former Sultan and King of Morocco.
It is a modern building erected in the 80s,the architectonic structure and the decorations are a revival of the first Almoravib Mosques in particular the aisles covered with peaked with green tiles.It is an imposing construction and its minaret is visible from the sea and from many other points of the city.
At the corner of Rue Hassan II is located the Spanish Catholic Cathedral.It is a moderniste Catholic church built by the architect Martinez Feduchi and completed in the year 1961.
The structure includes a square tower a topped pyramidal body stretched and an arched monumental facade,well the inspiration is typically modernist took by Antoni Gaudi lines not in decoration and colours because the white building was designed with a strong integration to the city urban environment.
Another symbol of Spanish culture left in Tangier is the Spanish Institute Cervantes which currently houses a Gallery of art,originally it was the old Spanish Library opened in 1941 and working until 1990.
In Rue de Belgique (Belgium Street) you can visit the Complex d´Artisanat (the Craft Complex).
That place is highly interesting,consisting in exhibition space,sales and professional training workshops in the area of Moroccan crafts including copper,silver,leather,wood,stucco and decorated tiles.
There you can have a chat with the Maallem the local artisans about the techniques of their works and to find some ideas to decorate your house,furthermore you can admire the patience and the capacities of those excellent artisans working as authentic artists.
At the end of that street you can reach Place de France (France Square),a very busy place,it is the heart of the new city,surrounded by banks,cafes,bistros,large and modern buildings.
During French rule,it was a sort of a little Place de Trocadero in Paris,a relevant meeting point and it is the place in Which the French Government installed its first Consulate in Tangier and also the site in which was established the famous Le Grand Café de Paris.
That Cafe was an iconic symbol of Tangier life,it has always been an ideal place to enjoy a coffee and chat,a place which hosted important people such as as Paul Bowles,Jean Genet,Ferdinand Braque who were often there.
A curiosity about that famous establishment apart the refined charm and glamorous atmosphere is linked to the period of the 2nd World War when it was considered a meeting point of secrets agents,spies.If you are fond about spies history,you can compare that Cafe to the famous Cafe Adler of Berlin or the legendary Cafe Mozart in Vienna or also to the elegant Grand Hotel Cafe of Stockholm.
Tangier was in that period a well known to be a very important cross road of secret agents and the famous British writer Ian Fleming took inspiration from there about some of his works.
Someone says it is also the place where the Allied sitting on those tables prepared the famous Operation Torch,the notorious USA and Great Britain invasion of the Mediterranean area and the operations against the Nazi troops in North Africa led by the General Erwin Rommel.
Someone in Tangier said to have seen also the famous secret agents Christine Granville,Anglo-Polish favourite spy of Sir Winston Churchill and Chief of British Secret Services Bill Donovan the collaborator of Colonel William Eddy.
Founduk Al Huria in the street Rue de la Liberté near Place de France is a big lively market with several stalls selling,fruit,vegetables,spices like sesame and fresh mint.There you can also find excellent carpets, carpets,traditional crafts and many other objects.
Another glamorous place of the city very close to Founduk Al Huria is the visit the famous Hotel Al Minzah.
That Hotel,just like the Hotel Continental has been for many years a place for stay and holidays of famous people such as Rita Hayworth,Samuel Beckett, Truman Capote,Winston Churchill,Bernardo Bertolucci and Paul Bowles.
That structure has a beautiful interior design with a Moorish-Andalusian patio with fountains,charming marble decorations,luxury staircases, palms and walls with Kufic decorations apart excellent bar.
Boulevard Pasteur is a long Avenue which was during French rule and some years later the glamorous and charming centre of Tangier with its elegant Cafes,Bistros,Theatres and Cabarets in Parisian style.
Along that avenue was usual to listen all daysongs by Edith Piaf,Charles Aznavour, ,Joséphine Baker, Serge Gainsbourg and Maurice Chevalier such as La vie en rose,Ne me quitte pas,C´est Si bon,Sur ma vie creating a very Parisian atmosphere.
That boulevard with modern and neoclassical building is still the life promenade and alive theatre of Tangier, and you can see there young people talking,Muslim women wearing the Burka or Hyiad,people enjoying shopping and common tourists.
In Boulevard Pasteur is also situated Tangier Synagogue,the location about that Jewish Religious Temple is very curious and peculiar.The Jewish community of Tangier was not to be grouped ad in a typical Mellah word in Arab to identify a Jewish district.
In the city,there were at least 12 Synagogues at the beginning of the century but the new modern Jewish Diaspora changed the history and many Jews living in Tangier and in Maghreb decided to move to Israel.Currently the Great Synagogue is housed in a villa built by the Spanish Sefardí Jewish family Laredo during the 40s one of the oldest Jewish families of Tangier.
Do not miss a visit to Madini which the most famous Perfume shop in Tangier with a prestigious history about a family who since 14 generations prepares perfumes,essences and distilling essential oils with the motto is that they can play any fragrance.Any perfume which comes to your head you can get it at a much lower price than the original in that shop.Some imitations are more loyal than others,but worth a look.
After that shopping visit take a drink in a place known in French with a peculiar name Terrasse de les Peresseux (balcony of the lazy) .
That name because many locals since long time ago spent hours in that area talking or sitting watching the people walking but it is also a great view point looking at the bay and the Strait of Gibraltar and the view is really very impressive.That place is in its kind that North African window on Europe for its magnificent scenic view.
Very close to Place de France,worth a visit the Eglise du Sacre Coeur a beautiful example of French Baroque architecture.It was one of the most important French Churches in Morocco during the times of the Protectorate.
In that area is also situated the Theatre Cervantes built in the year 1912 by the architect Diego Jimenez and opened one year later.It was the largest theatre in North Africa,it hosted several events such as ballet,flamenco shows and concerts.
The facade is in modernist style with elegant decorations but sadly and unfortunately after the end of glamorous period of Tangier in the late 60s that venue started to have a sad decay.
Tangier offer the visitors the chance to enjoy beautiful excursions,the Hercules Caves and Cap Spartel are a must.Cap Spartel is situated just 12,0 kilometres away from Tangier,on the road 701 linking the city to the Atlantic littoral coast.
It is a special place because it is where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean meet each other a splendid point to take a lot of pictures,starting from the famous Cap Spartel Lighthouse with wonderful views.
The journey from Tangier to that impressive place is really fantastic and scenic,you can enjoy all the Tangier coast facing the Andalusian coastline with small beaches and coves,showing you a beautiful Mediterranean panorama crossing rows of ficus, pines and eucalyptus.
The beach which surrounds that place is called Robinson beach.The old name of Cap Spartel during Greek era was Cape Ampelusia,it means Cape of the vineyards because that area is surrounded by vineyards.
The Phoenicians called that headland Cap of the rocks the promontory is in fact a big rock and the Arabs call it Al Harish place where the grapes born.It is also a place full of legend and historic events,a famous legend says it is the place where Hannibal of Carthage offered a sacrifice to the God Poseidon.
That cape has always been an interesting place to take pictures and tourism movies,spots to film the fantastic view of the waters the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea,one of turquoise colour the other a dark green with grey tonality and furthermore to film the groups of migratory birds heading to Europe or returning to Africa.
The lighthouse was built in the late 19th century by order of Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdel Al Rahman, itwas turned on October 15, 1864 at the expense of an International Consortium of eleven maritime powers.
The signatories were USA,United Kingdom,France,Italy,Spain,Holland,Austria,Portugal,Belgium and Sweden which paid the Sultan of Morocco and authorising the construction and secured custody of the lighthouse and servers using an armed checkpoint paid by the powers.
There is in addition a historical event linked to that place after the construction.In the morning of 05 July 1941,Spanish troops under the order of General Francisco Franco,occupied Tangier.
The Spanish soldiers landed on that cape disarmed the guards of the Sultan and including the British Guards who did their turns of guard in the lighthouse.It was a very sad diplomatic accident with several problems among France,United Kingdom,USA and Spain.
Hercules caves are situated just 5,0 kilometres from Cape Spartel a place,with an ancient history dated 7000 years BC.In the year 1930,during some excavations in that place were discovered some statues revealing human presence dating back the Neolithic era.
Approximately 250 metres from the Hercules caves take a look to Ras Achekkar it is a group of three caves the presence of Neolithic man is attested by archaeology: pottery, human bones and female statuette. statuette.
Beautiful places where history and legends are mixed.Legends and Mythology are often linked to history, history,cases or matches nobody knows,that area offers the visitor the opportunity to admire the Roman ruins of Cotta,along with the Mirage Resort and some pleasant beaches,among them the famous and wide beach of Sidi Kacen.
On the coast of the strait,almost facing the British protectorate of Gibraltar is situated Al Ksar Seghir founded by the Almohads dynasty in the late 12th century.Located at the mouth of a river there is there is a little village hosting an old rural market every Saturday.That place is also a national holiday resort with a small fishing port,a little lighthouse and an ancient castle in ruins. ruins,
That fort was built with the project to prepare the soldiers to cross the strait invading Andalusia and it was erected at the foot of Jebel Musa,which together with the ancient Calpe today Gibraltar in the legend are called Pillars of Hercules.Throughout history the inhabitants of that area were in charge of transporting people and materials between the two sides of the strait.
Cape Malabata (I wrote a post about that place) is a promontory located about 10,0 kilometres east of Tangier.That cape has a lighthouse and a fort built in early 20th century and it is an ideal place for shopping and you can find some cheap products but of good quality.Thar headland also has historic things to narrate,another charming place to visit and with Cap Spartel together are the points forming the bay of Tangier.
The city of Tangier is an ideal place to watch a typical belly dance show too.Many people thinks that dance was born in Turkey today when you are visiting Istanbul,Antalya,Ankara,Bodrun,Marmaris or Izmir,many local operators promotes the belly dance as an original dance from Turkey,inviting you to enjoy a Rakasse or a Gobett danse well known as belly dance.
Anyway the traditional Raks called currently Rakasse here was born in North Africa.The first ancient religious version Raqs sharqi was born in Egypt,as a religious dance of ancient practises in the Temples of Alexandria and Cairo,the other is a woman dancing under the moon,was a dance of the night ad a hymn to the fertilisation.
The "belly dance came in the Maghreb area after the conquest of Al Uqba Ibn Al Nafi,and the Idrissi dinasty.The Turkish rakasse came later during the Ottoman Empire under the rule of Sultanat Rum Selcuklu Devleti descendants of Persian Selcuklular of Ishafan. more or less 300 years later.The shows in Tangier are really excellent,Al Minzah Hotel and Mamounia Palace are two very good recommended choices in the case you are interested..
Tangier today hosts some important events like Tanjazz an annual International Jazz festival,Le Festival du cinema du Maroc and Le Festival International de Théâtre.
The city has always been a source of inspiration about music and Cinema.It was set and scenery of many movies the most recent Inception starring Leonardo Di Caprio,many episodes of James Bond like The Living Daylight or From Russia with Love
Probably the most famous are The Sheltering Sky,by Bernardo Bertolucci starring John Malkovich and Debra Winger,The Wind and the Lion starring Sean Connery and Candice Bergen.Many scenes of Casablanca the legendary movie with Humprey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman directed by Michael Curtiz were filmed there.
Bob Dylan mentioned Tangier in one of his songs If You See Her, Say Hello and many European painters were inspired by that North African city famous is the painting Window at Tangier by Henri Matisse a highlight in the famous Moskow Pushkin Museum and also Francis Bacon found deep inspirations during his stays in that Moroccan city.
It is easy to reach Tangier landing to Ibn Batouta International Airport or if you are enjoying your holidays in Spain in Costa de la Luz you can take the FRS ferries Buquebus from Tarifa,you will reach Tangier in about 40 minutes or also by an excursion f/d from the Costa del Sol or other points of Andalusia.
For sure travelling to that corner of Morocco will help you to discover and understand more that beautiful country which is an original,special and attractive mix of cultures.
Tangier is a great experience,a city full of contrasts,many legends and a rich history surrounding very interesting city,that North African open window on Europe will delight you with a spectacular ample view rich of suggestive things and so recommended to discover a point of Maghreb which will offer you a wide fan of attractions you will remember for ever.
Francesco Mari
Recommended Accommodations in Tangier
Hotel Ramada Les Almohades Tanger
Hotel Al Minzah
Hotel Cesar
Hotel Continental
Hotel Husa Solazur Business & Spa
Hotel Maison Hassani
www.villedetanger.ma
www.ramada.com
www.leroyal.com/morocco/thecomplex.asp
el-minzah-hotel-tanger.h-rez.com
www.continental-tanger.com
www.hotelcesarmorocco.com
www.maison-hassani.com
www.husa.es
www.tourism-in-morocco.com
www.tangiertourism.org
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Thanks a lot to read and note.