31 Grands Taxis To Cap Spartel A4From the Grand Socco, enter the medina opposite the Mendoubia Gardens, on Rue as-
Siaghin, and follow the road downhill until it widens at Café Central, on the left. This is the Petit
Socco Offline map Google map once the most notorious crossroads of Tangier, the site of drug
deals and all forms of prostitution. Today the facades are freshly painted, tourists abound and
it’s a wonderful square for people-watching while you drink your mint tea.
From the Petit Socco, Rue Jemaa el-Kebir (formerly Rue de la Marine) leads east past the
Grande Mosquée Offline map Google map, which at one time housed a Portuguese church. A little
further on you reach a scenic lookout Offline map Google map over the port.
Now to avoid getting lost, head out of the medina a moment, and circle down to its
southernmost corner, where you will re- enter via the steps to Rue D’Amerique/Zankat America.
A dog-leg brings you to a door in a covered passageway on your left. Here you will find another
great local oddity, and must-visit, the Tangier American Legation Museum Offline map
Google map ( 0539 93 53 17; www.legation.org; 8 Rue D’Amerique; admission free, but
donations appreciated; 10am-1pm & 3-5pm Mon-Fri, weekends by appointment) . Morocco
was one of the first countries to recognise the fledgling United States, and this was the first
piece of American real estate abroad (look for the letter of thanks from George Washington to
Sultan Moulay Suleyman). It is also the only US National Historic Landmark on foreign soil. The
elegant five-storey mansion holds an impressive display of paintings that give a view of the
Tangerine past through the eyes of its artists, most notably the Scotsman James McBey,
whose hypnotic painting of his servant girl, Zohra, has been called the Moroccan Mona Lisa.
The new director of the Legation, Gerald Loftus (see the boxed text, Click here ), has
introduced a well-stocked bookshop and a wing dedicated to Paul Bowles. The romantic map
room upstairs contains walls lined with ancient parchments and diplomatic mementoes,
including a hilarious letter from the US consul recounting his gift of a lion from the sultan in
- It is at this point you realise that you have entered the plot of an exotic historical novel.
Just off the Petit Socco is the Musée de la Fondation Lorin Offline map Google map (
[email protected]; 44 Rue Touahine; admission free, but donations appreciated;
11am-1pm & 3.30-7.30pm Sun-Fri) , which is another eclectic stop. Here in this former
synagogue, you will find an open two-storey room with an engaging collection of black-and-
white photographs of 19th- and 20th-century Tangier on the walls. Meanwhile there is likely a
children’s theatre going on in the centre, as the museum doubles as a workshop for
disadvantaged kids, bringing life to the static display.
Now continue along Rue Touahine to Rue as-Siaghin, and exit the medina from where you
started. Follow the perimeter all the way to the western end, to the highest part of the city,
enter the Porte de la Kasbah, and follow the road to the Kasbah Museum Offline map
Google map ( Pl de la Kasbah; adult/child Dh10/3; 9-11.30am & 1.30-4pm Wed-Mon) . The
museum is perfectly sited in Dar el-Makhzen, the former sultan’s palace (where Portuguese and
British governors also lived) and has recently been completely renovated. The new focus is on
the history of the area from prehistoric times to the 19th century, most of it presented in seven
rooms around a central courtyard. Placards are in French and Arabic. Some highlights are pre-
Roman tools; a sculpture with scenes of a bacchanalian feast; some 16th-century jewellery; an
extraordinary floor mosaic from Volubilis; and a fascinating wall map of trade routes past and