Tangier

Introduction

For many travelers, Tangier is the gateway to Africa. Highlights include the Kasbah, the medina and the Ville Nouvelle. For its aggressive touts, Tangier is well known but persevere, and on you this unique city will grow.

By beat poets, artists and writers, Tangier has long been romanticized, ther artists have arrived at its busy shores seeking adventure. From the Atlantic to Mediterranean, Cruise ships often dock there on their way and in Europe travelers find it easy from Spain to the port of Tangier to take a quick one hour ferry.

While Tangier has a lovely old Medina and a fascinating history, these days a lot of tourists use it as a stepping off point to explore the Rif mountains or to hit the beaches. Although Tangier doesn’t have quite the charm it did in the 1940’s and 1950’s when you could rub shoulders with the likes of Paul Bowles, Tennessee Williams and Truman Capote, but if you ignore the tourist touts and give it some time, it will grow on you.

The Town Beach

Tangier is a tourist town, from Moroccan families to Europeans African excursions, they serving everything. The town beach has setting that great: with the white houses of Tangier as a frame, it makes up a several kilometre long curve before it ends in the barren mountains of which there is nothing further north than European continent and the sea. These beaches have most attractive sights, with clean beach and a wide mountains on all sides also with all necessary amenities.

The main centres of early evening and afternoon activities in Tangier is along the beach walk. Tangier at first old colonial houses dominated, but this before you get close to the beach. Further on, dominated by modern houses. Activities are rather common here, people walk down and up on this size street avenue, just looking at people and allowing each others to look.

The medina

Tangier’s Medina is a real one: Houses in many different styles, streets are narrow, and most is in good condition. There are many commercial areas and the medina is quite big. Most of them serve traffic from the tourist, but to find any areas where real handcraft performed is more difficult. Other areas are devoted to living, but there are plenty of painted doors, nice houses, rose bushes and decorated gates all around.

One of the more popular is the gate to the medina located near the Great Mosque, as it connects directly to the beach walk. To the most fascinating parts of the old Tangier parts, it is the easiest entry and immediately you will find yourself walking in narrow streets which soon in the Petit Socco will ends up.

The Petit Socco itself is the Tangier’s 100 square metres with the worst reputation. In here, human smuggling planned, drug deals are made and prostitution performed. But the youths here very madness in soccer, and the guests here supposed to be most well-known brothel of Tangier.

The cliffs

It is really charming to walk along the Atlantic side of Tangier. Only few houses have managed to put their feet down before the hill becomes too steep. And by some strange coincidence history has made this into the poor people’s quarters. People here are live in the best part of the town. Who could want more than the wide empty beach and the great view of the Atlantic?

Grand Socco

Souq or Socco in the Spanish version is meaning for market. But the word Socco survives in Tangier, even the Spanish were long gone. Located in the right north-east of the medina, The Grand Socco is no longer a market place. Today it is a transportation junction and a meeting place, principally for taxis. Where the modern city’s street are forced is the point of The Grand Socco, to continue in the old city narrow streets.

Kasbah place

It is fronts the former sultanate palace, which now has been converted into a museum. In earlier this century, The Kasbah was Tangier’s most attractive areas, but there is a strangely remote because it has lost its old attractions, and empty feeling to it. The Kasbah place is dominated by a very good condtion of its fortifications.

Sultan’s palace and museum

It was built by sultan Moulay Ismail, The Dar el-Makhzen is organized around two inner courtyards. This one is still tastefully finished with wooden ceilings, while the palace was not of the largest a sultan could reside in, there are also marble and arabesques fountains. In 1912, the palace was abandoned, and was later turned into an architecture and art museum. You will find old examples of craftsmanship among its exhibits, but it is probably the finds from Volubilis which for most visitors is the most interesting.

The palaces

Tangier has many palaces with various size and styles, but many of them is high artistic class. Such like this one, which used to belong Malcolm Forbes, the American multimillionaire. It is not very large, but it has more impressive property. It is open for visitors because of exhibit of Forbes’ collection of military miniatures.

source: http://lexicorient.com/morocco/tangier.htm

Tags: Morocco, tangier

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