The uncovered faces of women were protected from the eyes of men by ornately decorated
metal and wooden grates.
medina goods are sold "as is" with agricultural products (such as this mountain
of watermelons) stockpiled in bins and on floors.
Carefully observing the guidebook map, we follow a disconcertingly tourist-free route
along the external wall of the Tangier medina.
Our faux guide and Rich take in the great view of the Atlantic Ocean from Tangier's Plaza
de Kasbah.
The first street sign 600 metres into the medina confirms our map reading skills.
The Museum of Moroccan Art features a furnished salon - allowing our first glimpse at how
affluent Islamic people lived.
The ceiling in the Dar el-Makhzen jewelry room rivals the beauty of those in Granada's
Alhambra.
Wisteria explodes in a purple cloud, bringing colour to a white stucco world.
Ancient tile work on the floor of Dar el-Makhzen |
EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNAL June
11, 1999
Tangier, Morocco
The Spy Who Mugged Me
"Where are you going?" The young man has risen from his station at the café
and followed us to the door of the Mosque. The Grand Socco, Tangier’s commercial hub,
is a busy square cornered by the Mosque, cafes, a clutter of fruit stands, kebab and fish
stalls and Berber women with embroidered laps, draped with mint and parsley. There’s
a crowd gathered around some sort of spectacle. "I’m not a guide," he says,
"I’m a student." Nevertheless, he follows us on a walking tour of
Tangier’s old parts, through the medieval medina, past the carpet weavers, to the
Kasbah, or fortress. We’re doing our best to shake him, to thank him, to bid him
farewell. "Thank-you but we don’t require a guide today." And he replies in
broken English, "Yes, here, this is big wall. Wall very big. This way to carpets.
Carpets very good. Good carpets."
Tangier is the kind of place the people in the rest of Morocco apologize for. The ferry
terminal is teaming with hustlers, waiting like piranhas for the tender and helpless,
disembarking to see what lies beyond the comforts of Europe. Hustlers are coaxing,
convincing, threatening, inviting and at times rather friendly. It seems their motive is
to dip their hands in the pocket of the riches of the western world.
For centuries Tangier changed imperial hands like the pennies exchanged for bread here.
Phoenicians, Romans, Portuguese, British and Spaniards all laid claim to the mongrel port,
until in 1923 Tangier was declared an International Zone and the city was loosely governed
by eight European heads and the United States. As a result Tangier attracted an historic
roster of bored heiresses, drug enthusiasts, spies, criminals, currency speculators,
artists and writers. The free port status didn’t last long, and in 1960, with the
independence of Morocco Tangier closed 100 brothels. Besides this, Tangier’s
reputation for its hard currency black market, open gay community and plentiful hashish
makes it a ready stop for the riff raff. The Café de Paris, with seats never left to cool
from the meetings of World War II secret agents still pours the lattes amid the urban
squalor.
Finally, after an hour or so, after the Dar el-Makhzen Palace, once home to the ruling
pasha of Tangier, its Museum of Moroccan Art with its collection of hand-woven carpets and
inlaid ceilings, and a walk into Tangier’s Ville Nouvelle, our guide loses interest
and tells us we’re going the wrong way. "medina over here." He insists,
"Nothing good down that way." But we’ve discovered something good – an
absence of hustlers—and our student, who can’t remember what he is studying,
turns and walks away. |
One entrance to Tangier's medina cuts into the hillside and leads to a steep, narrow road
filled with tourist savvy vendors.
Many pedestrian ways are transformed daily into open markets with each vendor offering a
small assortment of unrelated items. 
Men are often found relaxing in the shade overlooking the ocean from the Tangier medina.
This doorway shows the ornate plasterwork of numerous old buildings along the route
to Plaza de Kasbah (Citadel Plaza).
Our faux guide shades eyes in the hot, dry and deserted Plaza de la Kasbah
From the outskirts of the medina we can see the ferry as it waits for fleeing Tangier
tourists.
The museum patio of the former Dar el-Makhzen palace offers cool shade and splendid views
of expertly carved plaster.
A dark patterned wood ceiling in the Dar el-Makhzen makes a tarnished metal lamp appear as
a floating space ship.
A green paradise lies beyond the door.
We stroll through the arbours which cover walkways through the garden of Dar el-Makhzen. |
