About Tangiers
At the crossroads of civilisation, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean, Tangier flaunts its magnificent bay below lush green hills. From the "Place de la Kasbah", the highest point in the medina, you can visit the sultan's palace where every aspect of moroccan art can be seen in the rooms around the courtyard. Or you can stroll down alleyways of the medina to the terrace overlooking the straits of Gibraltar.
Its strategic position makes it a crossroad for civilisations. Tangier is the gateway to the African continent looking across at Europe from the shores of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. As a meeting-point of routes to so many different destinations, Tangier has inevitably been marked by History with influences from the Phoenicians, Berbers, Portuguese and Spanish.
As do most towns, Tangier, the White City, possesses its Medina, the old Arab town containing a pair of picturesque markets : the Grand Socco and the Petit Socco (the Spanish word for "souk"). Tangier is also renowned for the Mendoubia gardens, with their eight-hundred-year-old trees, the Sidi Bouabid Mosque, its minaret decorated with multi-hued faiences dominating the Medina, the Kasbah Square with its portico of white marble columns, and the great Mechouar where the pashas once gave audience.
The status of international free zone which the city enjoyed for a number of years added to Tangier's celebrity and makes it an obligatory stop-off for any tourist in search of the real Morocco.
