Tangier, gateway to Africa. Tanjah to the Moroccan; Tanger to the French;
Tangiers to the English. Tangier, the ‘Bride of the North’.

With a history of intrigue and mystery, Tangier is the country’s most cosmopolitan city; - a citythat has everything you'd expect from Morocco - a medieval Medina, a vast, picturesque, vibrant souk - the ‘Grand Socco’; tea houses; the Mendoubia Gardens; the Sidi Bounabid Mosque; the Moulay Ismaïl Mosque; the Forbes Museum (Forbes 500 - he lived here, too); the American Legation and the Merinid College.

According to Greek legend, it was Hercules (Herakles), that impetuous demi-god, who created the Straits named Gibraltar, who separated the European and African continents with a blow of his sword (or shoulder!) and raised the famous columns, The Pillars of Hercules (the hills on the two sides of the Mediterranean Sea, Jbel Tariq - “Gibraltar” and Jbel Musa in Morocco). It is said that he left a large hole in the caves that bear his name on the Spartel promontory at the end of the bay to the west of Tangiers to observe the sea and admire his work. If the legend is true, the Moroccans, North Africans or Africans in general would have great reason to be angry with Hercules, for his thoughtlessness and all the gods of ancient Greece, for what a strange idea it was to separate the land and to create these geographic fictions that are continents! Had Hercules contained himself just a little bit, history would have followed another course; the many candidates for clandestine immigration who risk their lives to cross the Straits each day, would only have had to climb a wall or cut the barbed wire fence to cross to the other side, as they do between Mexico and the United States. Fortunately, Hercules was not too efficient in his work: the two continents are not far from each other. At the closest point, the straits are only 14 kilometres apart. It is for this reason that men sometimes think to repair the mistake the hero made by creating a fixed link between Spain and Morocco. Tangier, first known as a Phoenician trading port in the 15th century B.C. and later a Carthaginian settlement. Legend has it was found by Antae, the son of the Greek god Poseidon, in honour of his wife Tingis. Or perhaps by the Numidians, the native population, ancestors of the Berbers. It was the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana under the Emperor Marcus Salvius Otho, later to be occupied by Vandals, Byzantines, Visigoths and Arabs. Captured by the Portuguese in 1471, it was then to pass to England in 1662 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza on her marriage to King Charles II, but was abandoned and left in ruins in 1684, to later become a lair of Barbary Coast pirates. Tangier, a place where the street signs are in three languages; in fact, no less than 12 nations have occupied the city at one time or another since the fifth century. Tangier, ofthe wealthy Berber brigand chieftain Sherif Moulay Ahmed er-Raisouli, appointed Governor by the Sultan in the early 1900s; he who kidnapped real-life American victims Ion Perdicaris and his step-son Cromwell Varley (and who was played by Sean Connery in the 1975 film “The Wind and the Lion”). From 1923 Tangier and a small surrounding enclave became an international zone, administered by Spain between 1940–45. In 1956 it was transferred toindependent Morocco to become a free port in 1962.

As you step off your ship you start to notice that this really is Africa. Many of the men are clad in burnouses, the long, hooded cloaks worn over everyday clothes, or djellabas. And the women wear their version - the kaftan. Everything in Tangier leads to the Medina, the old walled city. The souq, or market, spills out from the walls - a labyrinth of narrow streets and courtyards filled with stalls, selling everything from bedsteads to spices of a hundred different colours and aromas. You’d think French influences would be widespread, but they don't extend to the cuisine. This is the home of the tagine, a stew of lamb, beef or chicken and vegetables cooked in a covered pot and of couscous. There is also an impressive array of fish on any good menu, and the kebabs are as tasty as you would hope. There is a modern Tangier which is essentially a Mediterranean resort - home to holiday accommodation (the deceased designer Yves St Laurent had a bolt hole deep within the Kasbah); the wealthy "California" section where you see the estates and palaces of the rich and famous and the former Sultan's Palace - the 17th century Dar el-Makhzen - now a museum - and the Sidi Hosni Palace. The Medina of old Tangier contains the iconic white-washed walled Kasbah, the Sultan's Garden with its Moroccan fountain and fragrant orange and lemon trees, the labyrinthine alleyways of the Medina and its spice markets, the Berber markets and the many artisans; the Grand and Petit Socco and St. Andrew’s Church, quietly nestling off the busy market square. This city is a treasure trove of lamps, pots, tables, chairs and rugs, all at prices to make a Habitat buyer choke. The only problem is how to get everything back home.