We had only one morning to spend in Tangier, and we had to make the most of it. Fortunately our Moroccan guide, Karim, and his associates were the right people for the occasion. I can’t speak highly enough of them.
Tangier is a very ancient city with an unusual history, most of which I’m not going to cover here; instead I’ll refer the reader to Wikipedia for the full story. Here I’ll just mention that after centuries of Islamic rule, it was seized by the Portuguese in 1471 and incorporated into their colonial empire. But in 1762, the Portuguese monarchy gifted Tangier to King Charles II of England as part of the dowry of the Infanta (Princess) Catherine of Braganza, whom he married in that year. It proved to be a troubled acquisition, however, because of attacks by mujahideen – Muslim holy warriors determined to expel infidels – and in 1684 the British abandoned it to the locals after destroying as much of it as possible. Subsequently Tangier became a pirate stronghold, and hence a source of irritation to the European powers, who in the 19th century began to eye it once again, along with the rest of Morocco, as an object of possible acquisition. The French established a protectorate over Morocco in 1912, but Tangier was excluded because the rival powers found it too useful as a free-trade city (i.e. tax haven). Instead it became an international city, a nesting-place for all sorts of shady financiers, spies, and smugglers. The creation of the Tangier International Zone in 1924 formalized this arrangement. Eventually, however, with the restoration of Moroccan independence in 1956, Tangier was re-incorporated into that country.
It’s worth noting that the similarity between the name of the city and the fruit known as the tangerine, a form of mandarin orange hybrid, is not accidental, because tangerines were in fact originally developed in the orchards of Tangier. Mass farming of tangerines, however, was only begun in Florida, during the 19th century.
We had to start our morning in Tangier early – around 7 AM, local time. We headed right for the oldest quarter of town, the Medina, entering it via a gateway from the Grand Socco. Officially known as the Place du 9 Avril 1947, this is a historic roundabout square (if that makes any sense) with a large, impressive circular fountain in the middle. It is a lively place, with a number of sidewalk cafes, shops, a movie house called the Cinema Rif, and the Sidi Bou Abid mosque, which I mistook at first for a police station because there were so many police vehicles parked near it (“Really classy police stations in this town,” I thought). Built in 1917, it is distinguished by the liberal use of colorful polychrome tiles, especially on its minaret, and a large clock over its front entrance.
From the Grand Socco we entered the Medina, strolling down its main street, the Rue Siaghine, toward the central square, known as the Petit Socco. The word “socco” is a corruption of the Arabic word “souk,” meaning bazaar or marketplace, familiar to readers of the science-fiction novel Dune. But the entire Medina in effect constituted the marketplace, because the shops lined every street, interspersed with dwellings and other establishments. I felt a particular affinity to one little market that sold nothing but olives, of various kinds and in enormous quantities. This is the real Olive Garden, I thought, and it puts the American restaurant chain of that name to shame. Olives were piled to mountainous heights on its tables.
The most imposing structure in the Medina is the Grand Mosque on Rue de la Marine. From time immemorial it was a site of religious worship, occupied successively by pagan temples, Christian churches and Islamic mosques. When the Portuguese took Tangier in the 15th century, they built a cathedral, which became a mosque again after the British left in 1684. It then fell into decrepitude, but was eventually rebuilt on the order of Sultan Moulay in 1818, and its present form dates from that time. It has been restored and enhanced several times since then, most recently in 2002, and at the time we visited it presented a very attractive appearance. The main portal, in the traditional Islamic horseshoe shape, is surrounded by radiating geometric designs in green, with a carved wooden canopy above. The mosque is graced by an elegant minaret crafted in the traditional Moroccan square shape, of which we would see numerous more examples during our sojourn in that country. Each side, like the main building, was walled with white stucco, framing rectangular inlays of green tile overlain with white stucco latticework and exquisitely sculpted Koranic verses.
From the Grand Mosque we continued down the Rue de la Marine to exit from the Medina on its east side, at the gate known as the Bab Dar Dbagh, where I found a great vantage point from which to capture some captivating views of the Port of Tanger, the harbor and the old city. The older quarters of the city, including the Medina, are situated on a hill overlooking the harbor, with the newer parts of the city located to the east. We descended stairs and steep ramps to a broad terrace bordered by the Avenue Mohammed VI, and shortly arrived at the Restaurante Diblu, where we had an ample breakfast and bid farewell to Tangier.
Boarding the bus which would carry us through the next five days of our Moroccan adventure, we began the drive to our next destination, the Blue City of Chefchaouen. This took us through the Rif Mountains, a rugged and wild area where I expected at any moment to be stopped by bandits or mujahideen, who would hold us for ransom and, since we had no wherewithal to pay the ransom, we would never be heard from again. Fortunately, our only stop turned out to be at a very welcoming establishment called the Salon de Thé, perched above a charming lake surrounded by forested hills all round. There we enjoyed refreshments and relaxing strolls, and took pictures until it was time to resume the journey, which concluded without incident at the azure town which is the subject of my next post.
