From Lisbon, we hopped on a plane for Casablanca, Morocco. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see anything in Casablanca because we had to catch a bullet train to Tangier, Morocco. Our ten days in this north African country would be quick, but they were packed with magnificence and wonder.
Our first stop, Tangier, lies on the northern coast of Morocco and has been inhabited for thousands of years. It is believed that as early as the 10th century B.C., the Phoenicians established a port city there. High on one of the cliffs, the Phoenicians carved stone tombs, which is a popular place for locals to sit and look out over the sea.
Cape Spartel
Near, the city of Tangier on Cape Spartel, you can also find Hercules’ grotto, the legendary location where the demi-god rested before his twelfth labor, to retrieve golden apples from the nearby Hesperides Garden. The cave’s mouth, which opens to the Atlantic Ocean, sort of looks like the continent of Africa. Allegedly, the Phoenicians carved this entrance as a map. Inside, the walls and ceilings are scalloped and reminiscent of a clam shell because the Berbers carved mill stones out for centuries, possibly millennia.
Cape Spartel is the most northwestern point of the African continent. The countryside between the city and the cape is beautiful. So beautiful, the king’s summer palace is there. Lovely beaches line the coast, and lush forests cover the mountains. Fun fact, tangerines are named after Tangier despite being native to China. However, they grow well in this part of Morocco and were exported to Europe and America from Tangier.
Medina
The heart of any Moroccan city is the medina or old walled city. Tangier’s medina isn’t the biggest, but it is definitely one of the more famous because of its more recent city. France and Spain split control of Morocco in the early 20th century, and soon after, Spain, France, and Great Britain created the International Zone of Tangier, which lasted until 1952 when it was formally returned to an independently sovereign Morocco. During the International Zone era, Tangier became a very diverse city with an international population living on the edge. Parties, drugs, and other provocative activities were a big part of life there. (Paul Bowles ring any bells?)
Today, the Medina is still a maze of narrow alleys and paths. Many people live there, but it is also crawling with visitors. I enjoyed wandering this medina (all of the Moroccan medinas really) and finding lovely little gems. One such place we navigated our way to was another tomb, that of Ibn Battuta, famed 14th-century world traveler and travel writer. His tomb is very unassuming, tucked away in a corner of the medina’s alleyways near the kasbah. He ranks up there Marco Polo and Zheng He even though he beat both of their distances by more than double.
Kasbah Museum
The Kasbah Museum of Tangier is a fantastic museum in a beautiful historic palace. A kasbah is essentially a castle, the place where the local leader would live and a fortress in case of attack. This one was the sultan’s palace, used by the Portuguese governors in the 15th-17th century and British governors after that for a time.
Today, the Kasbah Museum, previously known as the Dar al Makhzen, houses a fabulous collection of art and artifacts ranging back thousands of years. One highlight is a spectacular mosaic floor from the ancient Roman city of Volubilis, near modern Fez, Morocco. This kasbah was an excellent introduction for me to Moroccan architecture and design. It reminded me so much of the Alhambra, the Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, and the Mughal design of India. The exquisite plaster work, tile mosaics, and wood carvings. However, some of the design is not as well executed as the Nasrid Palace in Spain with courtyard fountains being off center causing an asymmetrical experience.
Tangier American Legation
Another highlight of the Tangier Medina is an interesting piece of American history. The Tangier American Legation is the only National Historic Landmark located outside of the United States (excluding a few in the Pacific islands that were part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands). Not used as an official diplomatic post anymore, this was the first foreign property purchased by the U.S. government, and it represents a very important relationship between the United States and Morocco.
The compound saddles a narrow road in the Medina called Rue d’Amerique. It boasts lovely Moroccan architecture and a wonderful collection of historical artifacts and stories. One wing houses an exhibit about the famed American expat writer and composer, Paul Bowles. Above this is an exhibit about Jewish women in Morocco. My personal favorite stories involving this special place are found framed on the stairs.
George Washington and the Constitution
In the 1780s, the United States inaugurated its first president, George Washington, after adopting the Constitution. President Washington sent a copy of the founding document to Mohammed III, Sultan of Morocco at the time along with a letter explaining its significance and his appreciation of Morocco’s support and friendship for the new nation. Love of my home country swelled while reading this letter from President Washington.
A Gift of Lions
A fun story is also told in this stairwell. The sultan gifted a pair of Barbary lions to President Martin Van Buren. Consul Carr in Tangier informed the sultan that the President could not accept the gift, per the Constitution. The Sultan said they were for Congress. Again, Carr refused, saying Congress was not allowed to accept gifts. The sultan would not give up, so now the lions were for the American people. The consul tried to deny the gift again, but the lions were delivered anyway and let loose in the street in front of the legation. With threats of beheading if he didn’t accept them, the lions eventually ended up being shipped to Philadelphia where President Van Buren had them auctioned off with the approval of Congress.
Tangier was a great starting point for Morocco. We were there in winter, so it wasn’t crowded or super busy. We used the double-decker red bus tour to get around town including the Phoenician tombs, Cape Spartel, and more. We got a good overview from the bus tour, then wandered at our own pace through the medina. I would love to return to Tangier, Morocco someday.
