Tangier or
Tangiers [
pronounce] (
Ṭanja طنجة in
BerberThe Berber languages are a group of very closely related languages and dialects spoken in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and the Egyptian area of Siwa, as well as by large Berber communities in parts of Niger and Mali. A relatively sparse but very old population extends into the whole Sahara and...
and
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
,
Tánger in
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
,
Tânger in
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
, and
Tanger in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
) is a city of northern
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
with a population of about 700,000 (2008 census). It lies on the
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
n coast at the western entrance to the
Strait of GibraltarThe Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco...
where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off
Cape SpartelCape Spartel is a promontory in Morocco about 1,000 feet above sea level at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 km West of Tangier...
. It is the capital of the
Tangier-TétouanTangier-Tétouan is one of the sixteen regions of Morocco. It is situated in north-western Morocco. It covers an area of 11,570 km² and has a population of 2,470,372...
Region.
The history of Tangier is very rich due to the historical presence of many civilizations and cultures starting from the 5th century BC. Between the period of being a
PhoenicianPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
town to the independence era around the 1950s, Tangier was a place —and, sometimes a refuge— for many cultural diversities. However, it wasn't until 1923 that Tangier was attributed an
international statusFor the commercial node point city of the recent era, see global city.An international city is an autonomous or semi-autonomous city-state that is separate from the direct supervision of a single nation-state.-Rationale for establishment:...
by foreign colonial powers, thus becoming a destination for many Europeans and non-Europeans alike such as Americans and Indians.
Nowadays, the city is undergoing rapid development and modernization. Projects include new 5-star hotels along the bay, a modern business district called
Tangier City CenterThe Tangier City Center is a bold new project in Tangier, Morocco.It will become the new center of the city, featuring modern business facilities and shoppingcenters.- Location :...
, a new airport terminal and a new soccer stadium. Tangier's economy will also benefit greatly from the new
Tanger-medTanger-Med is a cargo port located about 40 km from Tangier, Morocco. It is the largest port on the Mediterranean and in Africa and went into service in July 2007.. Its initial capacity was 3.5 million shipment containers. - Overview :...
port.
History
The modern Tanjah (Anglicised as Tangier) is an ancient
BerberBerber beliefs or Amazigh beliefs are the beliefs of the indigenous Berber people of North Africa . These beliefs were influenced primarily by the beliefs of the Berbers' Egyptian neighbors, as well as by other people who lived in the area, such as Phoenicians, Jews, Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans...
and
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
n town, founded by
CarthaginianCarthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian...
colonists in the early 5th century BC. Its name is possibly derived from the
Berber goddessThe traditional Berber pantheon contains a variety of gods. Although most Berbers are now Muslim , vestiges of their previous religion remain, including traditions such as "Tislit" and her husband "Anzar"....
TinjisTinjis was in Berber and Greek Mythology the wife of Antaeus, son of Poseidon and Gaia....
(or Tinga), and it remains an important city for the
BerbersBerbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are discontinuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke various Berber languages, which together form a branch of the...
. Ancient coins call it
Tenga, Tinga, and
Titga with Greek and Latin authors giving numerous variations of the name.
According to
Berber mythologyBerber beliefs or Amazigh beliefs are the beliefs of the indigenous Berber people of North Africa . These beliefs were influenced primarily by the beliefs of the Berbers' Egyptian neighbors, as well as by other people who lived in the area, such as Phoenicians, Jews, Ancient Greeks and Ancient Romans...
, the town was built by
SufaxSufax was a hero from the Berber and Greek mythologies....
, son of Tinjis, the wife of the Berber hero Änti (Greek
Antaios, Latin
Antaeus). The Greeks ascribed its foundation to the giant Antaios, whose tomb and skeleton are pointed out in the vicinity, calling Sufax the son of
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
by the widow of Antaeus. The cave of Hercules, a few miles from the city, is a major tourist attraction. It is believed that Hercules slept there before attempting one of his twelve labours.
The commercial town of
Tingis came under
Roman ruleThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
in the course of the 1st century BC, first as a free city and then, under Augustus, a colony (
Colonia Julia, under Claudius), capital of Mauritania Tingitana of
HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
. It was the scene of the martyrdoms of Saint
Marcellus of TangierSaint Marcellus of Tangier or Saint Marcellus the Centurion is venerated as a Martyr Saint by the Roman Catholic Church...
. In the 5th century AD,
VandalsThe Vandals were an East Germanic tribe that entered the late Roman Empire during the 5th century. The Goth Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths and regent of the Visigoths, was allied by marriage with the Vandals as well as with the Burgundians and the Franks under .The Vandals are perhaps...
conquered and occupied "Tingi" and from here swept across North Africa. A century later (between 534 and 682), Tangier became part of the
Byzantine empireThe Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors in direct and de jure succession to the ancient Roman Emperors...
, before coming under
ArabArab people or Arabs are an ethnic group whose members identify along linguistic, cultural or genealogical grounds...
(
UmayyadThe Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
) control in 702. Due to its Christian past it is still a
titular seeA titular see in the Roman Catholic Church is a Diocese or Archdiocese that now exists in title only.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Catholic Church is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
.
Tangier was ruled by Umayyads, Abbasids, Idrisids, Fatimids,
Caliphate of CordobaThe Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and North Africa from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Great Mosque...
,
MaghrawaThe Maghrawa or Meghrawa were a Berber tribe in Morocco and central and western Algeria.-History:The Meghrawa, a tribe of Zanata Berbers, were one of the first Berber tribes to submit to Islam in the 7th century. They supported Uqba ibn Nafi in his campaign to the Atlantic in 683...
Emirate,
AlmoravidsThe Almoravids are a Berber dynasty of Sahara, which lived between the current Senegal and south of the current Morocco It is affiliated to the Berber tribe of Sanhadja and Lemtuna...
, Almohads, Marinids and
Kingdom of FezThe Kingdom of Fez or Wattassid sultanate was a state of North Africa. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea to its north, Spain to the northeast, Abdalwadid to the east, Saadi dynasty by Oum Er-Rbia River to the south, Atlantic ocean to the west, and Portugal to the northwest.It was formed when Abu...
before Portuguese conquest.
When the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
started their expansion in
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
, by taking
CeutaCeuta is an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the Strait of Gibraltar, on the Mediterranean, which separates it from the Spanish mainland. The area of Ceuta is approximately ....
in 1415, Tangiers was always a primary goal. They failed to capture the city in 1437 but finally occupied it in 1471.
The
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
rule (including
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
rule between 1580-1640) lasted until 1661, when it was given to
Charles II of EnglandCharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
as part of the dowry from the Portuguese Infanta
Catherine of BraganzaCatherine of Braganza was a Portuguese Infanta and the queen consort of Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland.-Early life:...
. The English gave the city a
garrisonTangier Garrison was a military installation in Tangier held by the English from 1661 to 6 February 1684 when it returned to being part of Morocco.-English take possession:...
and a charter which made it equal to English towns. The English planned to improve the harbour by building a mole. With an improved harbour the town would have played the same role that
GibraltarGibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...
later played in British naval strategy. The mole cost £340,000 and reached 1436 feet long, before being blown up during the evacuation.
In 1679, Sultan
Moulay IsmailMoulay Ismaïl Ibn Sharif was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. Like others of the dynasty, Ismaïl claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hassan ibn Ali...
of Morocco made an unsuccessful attempt to seize the town but imposed a crippling blockade which ultimately forced the English to withdraw. The English destroyed the town and its port facilities prior to their departure in 1684. Under
Moulay IsmailMoulay Ismaïl Ibn Sharif was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty. Like others of the dynasty, Ismaïl claimed to be a descendant of Muhammad through his grandson Hassan ibn Ali...
the city was reconstructed to some extent, but it gradually declined until, by 1810, the population was no more than 5,000.
The United States dedicated its first consulate in Tangier during the
George Washington administrationWith inauguration on April 30, 1789, the presidency of George Washington initiated a significant leadership role over the United States. President Washington established the executive and judicial branches of the federal government of the United States as well as guaranteed the survival of the...
. In 1821, the Legation Building in Tangier became the first piece of property acquired abroad by the
U.S. governmentThe federal government of the United States is the central government entity established by the United States Constitution, which shares sovereignty over the United States with the governments of the individual U.S. states. The federal government has three branches: the legislative, executive, and...
—a gift to the U.S. from Sultan
Moulay SulimanMulay Slimane or Suleiman was the Sultan of Morocco from 1792 to 1822. Slimane was one of five sons of Mohammed III who fought a civil war for control of the kingdom. Slimane emerged victorious in 1795, and the country remained largely passive for the subsequent decades of his rule...
. It was bombarded by the French Prince de Joinville in 1844.
Garibaldi lived in exile at Tangier in late 1849 and the first half of 1850, following the fall of the revolutionary
Roman RepublicThe Roman Republic was a state declared on on February 9, 1849, when the government of Papal States was temporarily overthrown by a republican revolution led by Carlo Armellini, Giuseppe Mazzini and Aurelio Saffi...
.
Tangier's geographic location made it a centre for
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an diplomatic and commercial rivalry in Morocco in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. By the opening of the 20th century it had a population of about 40,000, including 20,000 Muslims (with Berbers predominating over Arabs), 10,000 Jews, and 9,000 Europeans (of whom 7,500 were Spanish). The city was increasingly coming under French influence, and it was here in 1905 that Kaiser Wilhelm II triggered an international crisis that almost led to war between his country and France by pronouncing himself in favour of Morocco's continued independence.
In 1912, Morocco was effectively partitioned between
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, the latter occupying the country's far north (called
Spanish MoroccoSpanish Protectorate of Morocco was the area of Morocco under colonial rule by the Spanish Empire, established by the Treaty of Fez in 1912 and ending in 1956, when both France and Spain recognized Moroccan independence.-Territorial borders:...
) and a part of
Moroccan territory in the southRío de Oro , is, with Saguia el-Hamra, one of the two territories that formed the Spanish province of Spanish Sahara after 1969; it was originally taken as a Spanish colonial possession in the late 19th century...
, while France declared a protectorate over the remainder. The last Sultan of independent Morocco,
Moulay HafidAbdelhafid of Morocco served as the Sultan of Morocco from 1908 to 1912, as a member of the Alaouite Dynasty. His younger brother, Abdelaziz of Morocco, preceded him. Abdelaziz was considered by many in Morocco as a puppet of the French. He was backed by Madani al-Glaoui, older brother of T'hami...
, was exiled to the
Sultanate PalaceThe Dar-el-Makhzen in Tangier, Morocco was the seat of residence for the Sultans of Morocco when staying in Tangier.It was built by Moulay Ismail in the 17th century, in the Kasbah on one of the highest points of the city overlooking the Medina and the Strait of Gibraltar...
in the Tangier Kasbah after his forced abdication in favour of his brother
Moulay YusefSultan Yusef ben Hassan ruled the French Protectorate of Morocco from 1912 until his death in 1927. Born in the city of Meknes to Sultan Hassan I, he inherited the throne from his brother, Sultan Abdelhafid, who abdicated after the Treaty of Fez , which made Morocco a French protectorate...
. Tangier was made an international zone in 1923 under the joint administration of France, Spain, and
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, joined by
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
and
BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
in 1928. The International zone of Tangiers had a surface of 373 square kilometers and, by 1939, a population of about 60.000 inhabitants After a period of effective
SpanishSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
control from 1940 to 1945 during
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Tangier was reunited with the rest of
MoroccoMorocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in North Africa with a population of nearly 32 million and an area just under . Its capital is Rabat, and its largest city is Casablanca. Morocco has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the...
following the restoration of full sovereignty in 1956.
Ecclesiastical history
Tangier was a Roman Catholic
titular seeA titular see in the Roman Catholic Church is a Diocese or Archdiocese that now exists in title only.By definition a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop the tradition of the Catholic Church is that he be ordained for a specific place...
of former
Mauretania TingitanaMauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of modern Morocco and Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The province extended from the northern peninsula, opposite Gibraltar, to Chellah and Volubilis to the south, and as far...
. Originally the city was part of the larger province of
Mauretania CaesariensisMauretania Caesariensis was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa. It was the easternmost of the North African Roman provinces, mainly in present Algeria, with its capital at Caesaria , now Cherchell.-Historical background:In the first century AD, Roman...
, which included much of Northern Africa. Later the area was subdivided, with the eastern part keeping the former name and the newer part receiving the name of Mauretania Tingitana. (Thus one official list of the Roman Curia places it in Mauretania Caesarea).
Towards the end of the third century, Tangier was the scene of the martyrdom of Saint
Marcellus of TangierSaint Marcellus of Tangier or Saint Marcellus the Centurion is venerated as a Martyr Saint by the Roman Catholic Church...
, mentioned in the
Roman MartyrologyThe Roman Martyrology is the official Martyrology of the Roman Rite of the Roman Catholic Church. It provides an extensive but not exhaustive list of the saints recognized by the Church.-History:...
on 30 October, and of
St. CassianSaint Cassian of Tangier was a Christian saint of the 3rd century. He is traditionally said to have been beheaded on December 3, 298 AD during the reign of Diocletian. The Passion of Saint Cassian is appended to that of Saint Marcellus of Tangier. It is, however, not considered reliable...
, mentioned on 3 December. It is not known whether it was a diocese in ancient times.
Under the Portuguese domination, it was a suffragan of Lisbon and, in 1570, was united to the diocese of Ceuta. Six of its bishops are known, the first, who did not reside in his see, in 1468. In the protectorate era of Morocco Tangier was the residence of the prefect Apostolic of Morocco, which mission was in charge of the Friars Minor. It had a Catholic church, several chapels, schools, and a hospital. The city is a host of the
Anglican church of Saint AndrewThe Church of Saint Andrew, is an Anglican church consecrated in 1905.-History:In 1880, Hassan I of Morocco donated land to the British community in order to build a small Anglican church in Tangier...
.
Espionage history
Tangier has been reputed as a
safe houseIn law enforcement agencies jargon and intelligence jargon a safe house is a secure location, suitable for hiding witnesses, agents or other persons perceived as being in danger...
for international spying activities. Its position during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
and other spying periods of the 19th and 20th century is legendary.
Tangier acquired the reputation of a spying and smuggling centre and attracted foreign capital due to political neutrality and commercial liberty at that time. It was via a British bank in Tangiers that the
Bank of EnglandThe Bank of England is, despite its name, the central bank of the whole of the United Kingdom and is the model on which most modern, large central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and to this day it still acts as the banker for the UK...
in 1943 for the first time obtained samples of the high-quality forged British currency produced by the Nazis in "
Operation BernhardOperation Bernhard was the codename of a secret Nazi plan devised during the Second World War by the RSHA and the SS to destabilise the British economy by flooding the country with forged Bank of England £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes...
".
The city has also been a subject for many
spy fictionThe genre of spy fiction—sometimes called spy thriller or sometimes shortened simply to spy-fi—arose before World War I at about the same time that the first modern intelligence agencies were formed. The genre is closely related to political thrillers and military fiction.The Dreyfus Affair...
books and films. (See Tangier in popular culture below).
Culture
The multicultural placement of
Muslim:A Muslim , , is an adherent of the religion of Islam. The feminine form is Muslimah . Literally, the word means "one who submits ". Muslim is the participle of the same verb of which Islam is the infinitive. Muslims believe that there is only one God, translated in Arabic as Allah...
,
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
, and Jewish communities and the foreign immigrants attracted writers like
Paul BowlesPaul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
,
William S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life...
,
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
,
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
,
Brion GysinBrion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique used by William S. Burroughs....
and the music group the Rolling Stones, who all lived in or visited Tangier during different periods of the 20th century.
It was after
DelacroixDelacroix derives from de la Croix . It may refer to:In people:* Charles-François Delacroix, French ambassador to the Netherlands* Eugène Delacroix, a French Romantic artist...
that Tangier became an obligatory stop for artists seeking to experience the colors and light he spoke of for themselves - with varying results. Matisse made several sojourns in Tangier, always staying at the Hotel Villa de France. "I have found landscapes in Morocco," he claimed, "exactly as they are described in Delacroix's paintings." The Californian artist
Richard DiebenkornRichard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s...
was directly influenced by the haunting colors and rhythmic patterns of Matisse’s Morocco paintings.
In the 1940s and until 1956 when the city was an
International ZoneAn international zone is a type of extraterritoriality governed by international law, or similar treaty between two or more nations. They can be found within international airports and can contain duty free shopping. In areas of conflict there may be international zones called green zones that form...
, the city served as a playground for eccentric millionaires, a meeting place for secret agents and all kinds of crooks, and a mecca for speculators and gamblers, an Eldorado for the fun-loving "Haute Volée". During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the
Office of Strategic ServicesThe Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency .-Origins and activities:...
operated out of Tangier for various operations in North Africa.
Around the same time, a circle of writers emerged which was to have a profound and lasting literary influence. This included
Paul BowlesPaul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
,
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
and
Jean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
as well as
Mohamed ChoukriMohamed Choukri , was a Moroccan author who is best known for his autobiography For Bread Alone , which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as 'A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.Choukri was born in 1935, in Ayt Chiker, a small village in the Rif...
(one of
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
's most controversial and widely read authors),
Abdeslam BoulaichAbdeslam Boulaich is a Moroccan story-teller, some of whose stories have been translated by Paul Bowles from Moroccan Arabic to English. Boulaich's stories have been studied in college courses....
, Larbi Layachi, Mohammed Mrabet and
Ahmed YacoubiAhmed Yacoubi was a Moroccan painter and story-teller. He was born in Fes, Morocco in 1931.Paul Bowles translated Ahmed Yacoubi's stories from Maghrebi into English: "The Man and The Woman" , "The Man Who Dreamed of Fish Eating Fish" and "The Game" , and a play "The Night Before Thinking" which...
. Among the best known works from this period is Choukri's
For Bread Alone. Originally written in Classical Arabic, the English edition was the result of close collaboration with Bowles (who worked with Choukri to provide the translation and supplied the introduction).
Tennessee WilliamsTennessee Williams , né Thomas Lanier Williams, was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards for his works of drama...
described it as 'a true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.' Independently,
William S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life...
'
Naked LunchNaked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959.The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in July, 1959 by Olympia Press. Because of US obscenity laws, a complete American edition did not follow until 1962...
was written in Tangier and the book's locale of
InterzoneInterzone is a collection of short stories and other early works by William S. Burroughs. The collection was first published by Viking Penguin in 1989, although several of the stories had already been printed elsewhere, including an earlier publication entitled Early Routines...
is an allusion to the city.
After several years' gradual disentanglement from Spanish and French colonial control, Morocco reintegrated the city of Tangier at the signing of the
Tangier ProtocolTangier Protocol is an agreement signed between France, Spain and the United Kingdom by which Tangier, Morocco became an international zone.-History:The protocol was signed in 1925. Starting from 1929, Spain assumed the policing of the city...
on October 29, 1956. Tangier remains a very popular tourist destination for cruise ships and day visitors from
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
and
GibraltarGibraltar is a self-governing British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula and Europe at the entrance of the Mediterranean overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. The territory covers and shares a land border with Spain to the north...
.
Economy
For main article see Economy of TangierTangiers economy is the third biggest of all Moroccan cities, after the economic capital Casablanca and the political capital Rabat.Tangier is Morocco's second most important industrial center after Casablanca. The industrial sectors are diversified: textile, chemical, mechanical, metallurgical and...
Tangier is Morocco's second most important industrial center after
CasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean...
. The industrial sectors are diversified:
textileA textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands...
, chemical, mechanical, metallurgical and naval. Currently, the city has four
industrial parkAn industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. In Hong Kong, industrial parks are usually known as industrial estates. In the UK small industrial park containing multiple units all of the same style are known as trading estates...
s of which two have the status of
free economic zoneMany countries have, or have had at some time, designated areas where companies are taxed very lightly or not at all to encourage development or for some other reason...
(see Tangier Free Zone).
Tangier's economy relies heavily on
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
.
Seaside resortA seaside resort is a resort located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- History of the seaside resort :...
s have been increasing with projects funded by foreign investments.
Real estateReal estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.
"Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
and
constructionIn the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of multitasking...
companies have been investing heavily in tourist infrastructures. A bay delimiting the city center extends for more than seven kilometers. The years 2007 and 2008 will be particularly important for the city because of the completion of large construction projects currently being built. These include the Tangier-Mediterranean port ("
Tanger-medTanger-Med is a cargo port located about 40 km from Tangier, Morocco. It is the largest port on the Mediterranean and in Africa and went into service in July 2007.. Its initial capacity was 3.5 million shipment containers. - Overview :...
") and its industrial parks, a 45,000-seat sports stadium, an expanded business district, and a renovated tourist infrastructure.
AgricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
in the area of Tangier is tertiary and mainly cereal.
The infrastructure of this city of the
strait of GibraltarThe Strait of Gibraltar is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates Spain from Morocco...
consists of a
port||-||-||-||-||-||-||-||-|}A port is a facility for receiving ships and/or transferring cargo. It is usually found at the edge of an ocean, sea, river, or lake. The best ports have deep water in channels or berths, and protection from the wind and waves...
that manages flows of goods and travellers (more than one million travelers per annum) and integrates a
marinaA marina is a sheltered harbor where boats and yachts are kept in the water and where services geared to the needs of recreational boating are found....
with a
fishingFishing is the activity of catching fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
port.
Artisanal trade in the old
medinaMedina is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province...
(old city) specializes mainly in leather working, handicrafts made from wood and silver, traditional clothing, and shoes of Moroccan origin.
The city has seen a fast pace of
rural exodusRural flight is a term used to describe the migratory patterns of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It often occurs in a region following the mechanization of agriculture when fewer people are needed to bring the same amount of agricultural output to market...
from other small cities and villages. The population has quadrupled during the last 25 years (1 million inhabitants in 2007 vs. 250,000 in 1982). This phenomenon has resulted in the appearance of peripheral suburban districts, mainly inhabited by poor people, that often lack sufficient infrastructure.
The city's postcode is 90 000.
New Developments
New developments include a new terminal at the airport, a
football stadium seating 69,000 spectatorsStade de Tanger, also known as the Stade Ibn Batouta, is a multi-use stadium in Tanger, Morocco, that is currently under construction. Once completed in 2009, it will be used mostly for football matches. The stadium will have a capacity of 69,000 people. It will serve as the new home of IR...
,
a
high-speed trainThe Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line is a planned high-speed rail line in Morocco. It was announced in November 2007 by the national government. The 200 km high speed line between Kenitra and Tangier would be the first of its class in Africa. Work is projected to begin in 2009 and is...
, and a business district called
Tangier City CenterThe Tangier City Center is a bold new project in Tangier, Morocco.It will become the new center of the city, featuring modern business facilities and shoppingcenters.- Location :...
.
Notable landmarks
- Dar el Makzhen
The Dar-el-Makhzen in Tangier, Morocco was the seat of residence for the Sultans of Morocco when staying in Tangier.It was built by Moulay Ismail in the 17th century, in the Kasbah on one of the highest points of the city overlooking the Medina and the Strait of Gibraltar...
(Sultan's palace)
- Forbes Museum of Tangier
Forbes Museum of Tangier was a museum founded by the American billionaire and publisher of Forbes magazine, Malcolm Forbes, in Tangier, Morocco....
- Museum of Moroccan Arts and Antiquities
- Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier)
The Museum of Contemporary Art or Musée d' Art Contemporain is a museum in Tangier, Morocco, housed in the building of the former British consulate near the Church of St...
- Fondation Lorin
Fondation Lorin is an arts centre on the Rue Es-Siaghine in Tangier, Morocco. It is housed in an old synagogue and displays items such as newspapers, photographs, posters and plans related to the political, sporting, musical and social history of Tangier since the 1930s...
- Musée de Carmen-Macein
The Musée de Carmen-Macein is a private museum in the Kasbah area of Tangier, Morocco.The museum contains sculptures, paintings and lithographs by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst and Georges Braque.-References:...
- Tangier Grand Mosque
Tangier Grand Mosque is a grand mosque in the Grand Socco area of central Tangier, Morocco. It was built on the site of a former Portuguese cathedral which in turn stood on a Roman temple dedicated to Hercules. The mosque dates back to the Moulay Ismail period and was expanded in 1815 by Moulay...
- Kasbah Mosque
- Petit Socco
Petit Socco , also known as the "Souk Dakhli" is a square in the Medina area of central Tangier, Morocco. It was once home to many notable writers and affluent people in the city and is connected by the Rue Es-SiaghineTheasquare lies in the area of Tangier on which the forum of the Roman Tingis...
souk
- Grand Socco
Grand Socco , is a square in the medina area of central Tangier, Morocco and the larger of the Petit Socco which make up the medina of the city. The Grand Socco divides the medina from the Ville Nouvelle area of Tangier...
- Hotel Continental (Tangier)
The Hotel Continental, is one of the oldest hotels in Tangier, Morocco, located at 36 Rue Dar el-Baroud in the city.It is located in the bustling Medina area of the city centre and some of the rooms overlook the harbor.-External links:*...
- Church of the Immaculate Conception
- Anglican Church of St. Andrew
- Rue Es-Siaghine
Rue Es-Siaghine is a street in Tangier, Morocco. It was once the "decumanus maximus", the main thoroughfare of the city under Roman Empire rule. Today the street is lined with cafes and bars and souvenir shops. The street led from the harbor through the south gate...
- Rue de la Liberté
- Avenue Pasteur
- Ancien Palace du Mendoub
- American Legation
The American Legation, located at 8 Zankat America in the old city of Tangier, Kingdom of Morocco, commemorates the historic cultural and diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco....
- Gran Teatro Cervantes
Gran Teatro Cervantes is a theatre dedicated to Cervantes in Tangier, Morocco. The theatre was built in 1913 by the Spanish and has undergone little renovation in the exterior, noted for its dilapidated Art Deco facade. The theatre is accessible via the Avenue Pasteur and Rue du Prince Moulay...
- Quartier du Marshan
- Colline du Charf
The Colline du Charf is a hill of approximately 100 metres overlooking Tangier on the Mediterranean in northern Morocco. The hill offers a panoramic view of Tangier and the coastline from Cap Malabata in the east to La Montagne in the west...
- Parc de la Mendoubia
- Café Hafa
Café Hafa is a noted cafe in Tangier, Morocco, located along the cliff top overlooking the Bay of Tangier. Opened in 1921, the cafe has retained its 1920s style of decor and through the years has been vacated by numerous writers and singers, from Paul Bowles and William Burroughs to The Beatles and...
Transport
A railroad line connects the city with
RabatRabat , population 2 million , is the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region....
,
CasablancaCasablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean...
and
MarrakechMarrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Red City", is an important and former imperial city in Morocco...
in the south and
FèsFes may refer to:* Fes, Morocco, also known as Fez, a city in Morocco* Persona 3 FES, an 'add-on' disk for Shin Megami Tensei:Persona 3.FES is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:...
and
OujdaOujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of half a million. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the east. The service is operated by
ONCFONCF or ONCFM is Morocco's national railway operator. The Office employs around 9,767 employees and has a network of 1,907 km, all standard gauge. 1,003 km electrified .-History:The railways have been state-owned since 1963...
. The
Rabat-Tanger expresswayThe Rabat-Tangier expressway is an expressway in Morocco. It begins in Morocco's capital of Rabat, and connects to the northern port city of Tanger. The expressway's identity marker is "A1"....
connects Tangier to Fès via Rabat (250 km) and
SettatSettat is a town in Morocco between the national capital Rabat and Marrakech. Settat is located at the heart of the country, south of Casablanca. Settat is the capital of the prefecture of Chaouia-Ouardigha and Settat province, the oldest and largest city in the province, in both size and population...
via Casablanca (330 km). Another expressway will connect the city with
Tanger-medTanger-Med is a cargo port located about 40 km from Tangier, Morocco. It is the largest port on the Mediterranean and in Africa and went into service in July 2007.. Its initial capacity was 3.5 million shipment containers. - Overview :...
. The
Ibn Batouta International AirportTangier-Boukhalef Airport, is located near Tangier, Morocco. It is named after the famous Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta. The airport is being expanded and will become larger, including more flights and traffic...
(also known as Tangier-Boukhalef) is located 15 km south-west of the city center.
The new Tanger-med port is managed by the Danish firm A. P. Moller-Maersk Group and will free up the old port for tourist and recreational development.
Tangier's Ibn Batouta International Airport and the rail tunnel will serve as the gateway to the "Moroccan Riviera" the coast between Tangier and Oujda. Traditionally the north coast was an impoverished and underdeveloped region of Morocco but it has some of the best beaches on the Mediterranean and is likely to see rapid development.
The airport is being expanded and will become larger with more flights. Easyjet flies to Tangier from Madrid, and will soon fly via London. Ryanair flies from Milan. In addition, a
TGV high-speed train systemThe Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line is a planned high-speed rail line in Morocco. It was announced in November 2007 by the national government. The 200 km high speed line between Kenitra and Tangier would be the first of its class in Africa. Work is projected to begin in 2009 and is...
is being built. It will take a few years to complete, and will become the fastest train system in North Africa.
Education
Tangier offers five different types of educational systems: Arabic, American, French, Spanish and English. Each of these systems offer classes starting from Pre-Kindergarten up to the 12th grade,
BaccalaureatThe baccalauréat , often known in France colloquially as le bac, is an academic qualification which French and international students take at the end of the lycée . It was invented under Napoleon I in 1808...
, or
High school diplomaA high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education...
.
Many universities are located both inside and outside the city. Universities like the "Institut Superieur Internationale de Tourisme" (ISIT), which is a school that offers diplomas in various departments, offer courses ranging from business administration to
hotelA hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
managementManagement in all business and human organization activity is simply the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading, directing, facilitating and controlling or manipulating an organization or effort for...
. The institute is among one of the most prestigious
tourismTourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other...
schools in the country. Other colleges such as the "Ecole Nationale de Commerce et de Gestion" (
ENCG-T) is among the biggest
business schoolA business school is a university-level institution that confers degrees in Business Administration. It teaches topics such as accounting, administration, finance, information systems, marketing, organizational behavior, public relations, strategy, human resource management, and quantitative...
s in the country as well as "Ecole Nationale des Sciences appliquées" (
ENSA-T), a rising engineering school for applied sciences.
Primary Education
There are more than a hundred Moroccan primary schools, each dispersed randomly in the city.
International Primary Institutions
- The American School of Tangier
-Introduction:The American School of Tangier is an independent private school located at 149, Rue Christophe Colomb, Tangier, Morocco. The school offers courses from prekindergarten to the 12th grade.-History:...
- Colegio Ramon y Cajal (Spanish primary school)
- English College of Tangier
- Tangier Anglo Moroccan School
International High Schools
- The American School of Tangier
-Introduction:The American School of Tangier is an independent private school located at 149, Rue Christophe Colomb, Tangier, Morocco. The school offers courses from prekindergarten to the 12th grade.-History:...
- Lycée Regnault (French High School)
- Instituto Severo Ochoa (Spanish High School)
- English College of Tangier
- Mohammed Fatih Turkish School of Tangier
- Tangier Anglo Moroccan School
Tangier in popular culture
Tangier was the subject of many artistic works, including novels, films and music.
Literature
- Silent Day in Tangiers by Tahar Ben Jelloun
Tahar Ben Jelloun is a Moroccan poet and writer. Professor at Tetouan and then in Casablanca. He has lived and worked in France since 1971.Ben Jelloun studied philosophy in Rabat and psychology in Paris....
.
- Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch is a novel by William S. Burroughs originally published in 1959.The book was originally published with the title The Naked Lunch in Paris in July, 1959 by Olympia Press. Because of US obscenity laws, a complete American edition did not follow until 1962...
by William S. BurroughsWilliam Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life...
- relates some of the author's experiences in Tangier. (See also Naked Lunch (film)Naked Lunch is a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by William S. Burroughs, directed by David Cronenberg. The film is a tri-national co-production by film companies of Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan, featuring Peter Weller as William Lee , Ian Holm, Judy Davis, and Roy...
)
- America by Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet. Ginsberg is best known for the poem "Howl" , in which he celebrates fellow members of the Beat Generation and critiques what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in the United States.-Early life and family:Ginsberg was born into...
- Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels, published in 1965, yet written years earlier around the time On the Road was in the process of publication, is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, which makes up part of his Duluoz Legend...
by Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
relates him living with William Burroughs and other Beat writers in Tangier.
- Interzone
Interzone is a collection of short stories and other early works by William S. Burroughs. The collection was first published by Viking Penguin in 1989, although several of the stories had already been printed elsewhere, including an earlier publication entitled Early Routines...
by Burroughs - It talks about a fictionalized version of Tangier called Interzone.
- Let It Come Down
-Plot introduction:A dark, even bleak, novel, Let It Come Down follows American Nelson Dyar as he arrives in the International Zone of Tangier, Morocco to begin a new job and a new life...
is Paul Bowles's second novel, first published in 1952
- The Loom of Youth by Alec Waugh
Alexander Raban Waugh , was a British novelist, the elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh and son of Arthur Waugh, author, literary critic, and publisher...
- a controversial semi-autobiographicalAn autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
novel relating homosexual experiences of the author in the city of Tangier.
- Two Tickets to Tangier by Francis Van Wyck Mason
Francis Van Wyck Mason was an American historian and novelist. He had a long and prolific career as a writer spanning 50 years and including 65 published novels.- Life :...
, an American novelist and historian
- Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise is a comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows the adventures of Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin...
; a fictional character in a comic stripA comic strip is a sequence of cartoons that tells a story, often humorous, though adventures and soap opera-like dramas are also prevalent. They are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist, and many are published on a recurring basis in newspapers and on the Internet.In the UK and the...
of the same name and a series of books created by Peter O'DonnellPeter O'Donnell , is a British writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise, a female action hero / undercover trouble-shooter / enforcer...
- In 1945 a nameless girl escaped from a displaced person (DP) camp in Karylos, GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
. She took control of a criminal gang in Tangier and expanded it to international status as "The Network". After dissolving The Network and moving to England she maintained a house on a hillside above Tangier and many scenes in the books and comic strips are located here.
- Carpenter's World Travels: From Tangier to Tripoli - a Frank G. Carpenter
Frank G. Carpenter was an author, photographer, lecturer, collector of photographs. Carpenter was a writer of standard geography textbooks and lecturer on geography, and wrote a series of books called Carpenter's World Travels which were very popular between 1915 and 1930.With his daughter...
travel guide (1927)
- The Thief's Journal
The Thief's Journal is perhaps Jean Genet's most famous work. It is a part- fact, part-fiction autobiography that charts the author's progress through Europe in a curiously depoliticized 1930s, wearing nothing but rags and enduring hunger, contempt, fatigue and vice. Spain, Italy, Austria,...
by Jean GenetJean Genet was a prominent and controversial French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. Early in his life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but later took to writing...
- Includes the protagonist's experiments in negative morality in Tangier (1949)
- The Alchemist
The Alchemist is an allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho first published in 1988. It follows Santiago, a young Spanish shepherd, on a journey to fulfill his Personal Legend. It has been hailed as a modern classic...
by Paulo CoelhoPaulo Coelho is a Brazilian lyricist and novelist.- Biography :Paulo Coelho was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school. As a teenager, Coelho wanted to become a writer. Upon telling his mother this, she responded with "My dear, your father is an engineer. He's a logical,...
- The Crossroads of the Medterranean by Henrik de Leeuw- chronicles the author's journey through Morocco and Tunisia in the early 1950s and includes many pages describing Tangier, notably the Petit Socco as a food market with mountain dwellers (the jebli) selling their produce and 'the street of male harlots', where they ply 'their shameful trade'.
- The Gold Bug Variations
The Gold Bug Variations is a novel by American writer Richard Powers, first released in 1991.-Plot introduction:The novel intertwines the discovery of the chemical structure of DNA with the musicality of Johann Sebastian Bach's harpsichord composition, the Goldberg Variations...
by Richard PowersRichard Powers is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology.- Life and work :...
- The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist. Twain is most noted for his novels Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which has since been called the Great American Novel, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. He is extensively quoted...
includes a mixed bag of comments on his visit to Tangier, ending with: "I would seriously recommend to the Government of the United States that when a man commits a crime so heinous that the law provides no adequate punishment for it, they make him Consul-GeneralThe title Consul is used for the official representatives of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, and to facilitate trade and friendship between the people of the country to whom he or she is...
to Tangier."
- Seed
A seed , referred to as a kernel in some plants, is a small embryonic plant enclosed in a covering called the seed coat, usually with some stored food. It is the product of the ripened ovule of gymnosperm and angiosperm plants which occurs after fertilization and some growth within the mother plant...
by Mustafa Mutabaruka - An African American dancer struggling with the death of his father meets an enigmatic young woman and her companion in Tangier.
Magazines
- Antaeus (magazine)
Antaeus was a literary quarterly founded by Daniel Halpern and Paul Bowles and edited by Daniel Halpern. It was originally published in Tangier, Morocco, but operations were later shifted to New York City. The first number appeared in the summer of 1970, the final issue in 1994...
was first published in Tangier by Daniel Halpern and Paul Bowles before being shifted to New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- Tangier Gazette was founded by William Augustus Bird (aka Bill Bird
William Augustus Bird was an American journalist, now remembered for his hobby, the Three Mountains Press, a small press he ran while in Paris in the 1920s for the Consolidated Press Association...
) in Tangier
Films
- The Living Daylights
The Living Daylights is the fifteenth spy film in the James Bond series, and the first to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
- a James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
movie where he hunts Brad WhitakerBrad Whitaker is a fictional character and a main antagonist in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. He was portrayed by American actor Joe Don Baker. Baker also played Jack Wade, Bond's CIA contact in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies....
down at his Tangier headquarters
- From Russia with Love
From Russia with Love is the second spy film in the James Bond series, and the second to star Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and directed by Terence Young. It is based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Ian...
- the fictional character in "James Bond", Red Grant was recruited by "SPECTRE" in Tangier in 1962, whilst on the run from the law
- Tangier Incident - an American agent posing as a black market operator, is in Tangier on a mission to stop the plans of three atomic scientists who are there to pool their secrets and sell them in a package to the Communists.
- Man from Tangier (a.k.a. Thunder Over Tangier) - 1957
- Tangiers, 1908 was one of the unaired Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episodes
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is an American television series that ran from 1992 to 1996. The series explores the childhood and youth of the fictional character Indiana Jones...
- Flight to Tangier (Charles Marquis Warren) - 1953
- Tangier an episode of the television series Passport to Danger starring Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was a Cuban American film and television actor, best known for his portrayal of The Joker in the 1960s television series Batman...
- 1955
- The Nautch of Tangier (aka The Witchmaker) - 1969
- Tangier featuring María Montez
María Montez was a Dominican-born motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s as an exotic beauty starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume adventure films. Her screen image was that of a hot-blooded Latin seductress, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling...
, Robert PaigeRobert Paige was a TV star and Universal Pictures leading man who made 65 films in his lifetime and was the only actor ever allowed to sing on film with Deanna Durbin...
, and Sabu DastagirSabu Dastagir was a film actor of Indian origin—although he later took American citizenship. He was normally credited only by his first name, Sabu, and is primarily known for his work in film during the 1940s....
- 1946
- Espionage in Tangiers. A thriller of a secret agent out to snag a dangerous molecular ray-gun - 1966
- That Man from Tangier (in Spanish Aquel Hombre de Tanger) featuring Sara Montiel
Sara Montiel is a Spanish singer, and actress. She is still a much-loved and internationally known name in the Spanish-speaking movie and music industries....
- The Bourne Ultimatum
The Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 spy film directed by Paul Greengrass and loosely based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. The film is a sequel to The Bourne Supremacy and the third film of the Bourne Series. Matt Damon reprises his role as Ludlum's signature character, former CIA assassin...
, an espionage movie featuring Matt DamonMatthew Paige Damon is an American actor, writer and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting, from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
- Jason Bourne tracks a man through the city who has information on his (Bourne's) past. - 2007
- The Wind and the Lion
The Wind and the Lion is a 1975 adventure film. It was directed by John Milius and starred Sean Connery, Candice Bergen, Brian Keith and John Huston...
- Based on the Perdicaris incident of 1904, this film, starring Sean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , best known as Sean Connery, is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winning Scottish actor and producer....
, Candice BergenCandice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model, best known for her starring role on the television situation comedy Murphy Brown. She won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards as Best Actress in a TV Comedy for that role...
, and Brian KeithBrian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor, who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney film, The Parent Trap, the 1966 movie, The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 movie, The Wind and the Lion...
, takes place largely in Tangier. The film's Tangier, however, was actually created in the Spanish cities of SevilleSeville is the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level. The inhabitants of the city are known as Sevillanos or...
and AlmeriaAlmería is the capital of the province of Almería, Spain. It is located in southeastern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.-History:The name "Almería" stems from Andalusian Arabic المرية Al-Mariyya: "The Mirror", comparing it to the "The Mirror of the Sea".The city was founded by caliph Abd ar-Rahman...
.
- Prick Up Your Ears
Prick Up Your Ears is a 1987 film about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the book by John Lahr...
(film), Joe OrtonJohn Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
(Gary Oldman) and Kenneth HalliwellKenneth Halliwell was a British actor and writer. He was the mentor, partner and eventual murderer of playwright Joe Orton.- Childhood :...
(Alfred Molina) visit Tangier, the scene represents the 88 day holiday that Joe Orton took after the failure of his play 'LootLoot is a play by Joe Orton. The play is an extremely dark farce which satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
'.
Music
- Tangiers (band)
Tangiers are a Toronto-based indie rock band.Josh Reichmann and James Sayce resuscitated Tangiers after two band members left the band in 2003, adding ex-Guided by Voices drummer Jon McCann and keyboardist Shelton Deverell to the lineup.-Discography:*Hot New Spirits *Never Bring You Pleasure...
- a Canadian Rock musicRock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music....
band.
- If You See Her, Say Hello by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest...
- one of song's lines says, "If you see her say 'hello', she might be in Tangier."
- Sartori in Tangier by King Crimson
King Crimson is a progressive rock band founded by guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Michael Giles in 1969. They have typically been categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, although they have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation drawing from jazz, classical and...
- derives its title from beat generationThe Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired...
influences including the Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
novel Satori in ParisSatori in Paris is a 1966 novel by American novelist and poet Jack Kerouac. It is a short, semi-autobiographical tale of a man who travels to Paris, then Brittany, to research his genealogy. Kerouac relates his trip in a tumbledown fashion as a lonesome traveler. Little is said about the research...
, and the city of Tangier, where a number of beat writers resided and which they often used as a setting for their writing.
- Waiting in Tangier - a track in the album Woman to Woman
Woman to Woman is a 1993 dance album by the group Fem2fem, which sold over 125,000copies.-Track listing:# Switch – 5:17# Obsession – 5:09# Woman to Woman – 3:50...
of Fem2femFem2Fem was a 1990s techno group who released two albums. With actress Lezlie Deane of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare as a member, Fem2Fem were the first and openly lesbian pop group to chart...
band.
- Tangier by the Scottish musician Donovan Phillips Leitch
Donovan , is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music...
on his album The Hurdy Gurdy Man.
- Live At Tangiers - a solo
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
by Michael StanleyMichael Stanley is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and disc jockey. Both as a solo artist and with the Michael Stanley Band, his brand of heartland rock was popular in Cleveland and around the American Midwest in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Michael Stanley Gee graduated from Rocky...
- Tangiers - an instrumental piece by John Powell
John Powell is an English film score composer, based in Los Angeles.-Early life and career:Powell originally trained as a violinist as a child, before studying at London's Trinity College of Music. He later ventured into jazz and rock music, playing in a soul band "The Fabulistics"...
featured in The Bourne UltimatumThe Bourne Ultimatum is a 2007 spy film directed by Paul Greengrass and loosely based on the Robert Ludlum novel of the same name. The film is a sequel to The Bourne Supremacy and the third film of the Bourne Series. Matt Damon reprises his role as Ludlum's signature character, former CIA assassin...
- My Tangier - Dave Crockett (circa 1980's)
- Intrigue in Tangiers - a track from the album What Does Anything Mean? Basically
What Does Anything Mean? Basically, released in 1985 , is the second album released by The Chameleons.-Track listing:All songs written, arranged and performed by The Chameleons...
by The ChameleonsThe Chameleons were a post-punk band that formed in Middleton, in Greater Manchester, England in 1981 . They consisted of singer and bassist Mark Burgess, guitarist Reg Smithies, guitarist Dave Fielding, and drummer John Lever...
.
- Idaho by Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter.-Biography:Ritter was born in Moscow, Idaho, in 1976, to two neuroscientists...
- "I got your letter in Tangier".
- Guantanamo by Outlandish
Outlandish are a multi-award winning hip-hop group based in Denmark. Formed in 1997, they consist of Isam Bachiri , Waqas Ali Qadri , and Lenny Martinez...
Or we can lounge in Tangier - Not the one in Vegas, naah the one in Maroc
- Tangiers by Billy Thorpe
William Richard "Billy" Thorpe, AM was a renowned English-born Australian pop / rock singer-songwriter and musician...
- a concept album about Tangier, inspired by the late Billy Thorpe's several visits there.
Paintings
- Window at Tangier by the French artist Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship. He was a master draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but excelled primarily as a painter. Matisse is regarded, with Picasso, as the greatest artist of the 20th century...
(1912 - The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, MoscowMoscow is the capital and the largest city of Russia. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Europe, and ranks among the largest urban areas in the world. Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the world, a...
).
- Virtual Tangier: Visions of the City by Matisse (c. 1911-1916)
- Harvest of a journey to Spain and Tangiers, The Great Mosque, and Serpent Charmers of Sokko - a painting by Emile Wauters
Emile Wauters was a Belgian painter. He was born in Brussels. Successively the pupil of Portaels and Grrne, he produced in 1868 The Battle of Hastings: the Finding of the body of Harold by Edith, a work of striking, precocious talent....
- Market Day Outside the Walls of Tangiers by Louis Comfort Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements...
(1873 - Smithsonian American Art MuseumThe Smithsonian American Art Museum is a museum in Washington, D.C. with an extensive collection of American art.Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum has a broad variety of American art that covers all regions and art movements found in the United States...
)
- HMS Mary Rose and pirates by Willem van de Velde (a painting ascribed to Willem van de Velde, taken from the book: William Laird Clowes (ed.): The Royal Navy. A History From the Earliest Times to the Present, Vol. 2, London 1898)
People born in Tangier
- Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan berber scholar and traveller who is known for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla...
- a Berber explorer
- Franklin D. Koppel Benchimol - descendant of Jacob Ibn Jao (960 AD) - International Architect
- Ralph Benmergui
Raphael Benmergui is a Canadian television and radio personality.He recently hosted the show Ralph Benmergui: My Israel on Vision TV, taking a critical and bipartisan look at the issues and landscape of Israel. He is also the host of Benmergui in the Morning on JAZZ.FM91. Benmergui has a long and...
- a Canadian TV and radio host at the Canadian Broadcasting CorporationThe Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
- Alexandre Rey Colaço
Alexandre Jorge Maria Idalécio Raimundo Rey Colaço was a Portuguese pianist of a French father and Spanish-Portuguese mother.-Life:...
- A Portuguese pianistThe piano is a musical instrument which is played by means of a keyboard. Widely used in Western music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Karim Debbagh
Karim Debbagh is a Moroccan film producer.- Life and Work :In 1997 he went to Germany to study Film Production at the Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg. 2002 he finished his study with diploma. After Karim Debbagh worked for a few years as Line producer and Unit production manager in Germany, he...
- a Moroccan Film producer
- Roger Elliott
Major General Roger Elliott was one of the earliest British Governors of Gibraltar. His nephew George Augustus Eliott also became a noted Governor and defender of Gibraltar....
- the first British Governor of GibraltarThe Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The Governor is appointed by the British Monarch on the advice of the British Government...
- Mohammed el Fenni - Artist and Moroccan Haute Couture clothes designer
- Sanaa Hamri
Sanaa Hamri is a Moroccan American music video and film director. She is one of the few prominent female music video directors.-Early Life and break-through:...
- a Moroccan music video director
- Emmanuel Hocquard
Emmanuel Hocquard is a French poet who grew up in Tangier, Morocco. He served as the editor of the small press Orange Export Ltd., and, with Claude Royet-Journoud, edited two anthologies of new American poets, 21+1: Poètes américains ď aujourďhui and 49+1...
- a French poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
- Alexander Spotswood
Alexander Spotswood was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the British Army and a noted Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He is noted in Virginia and American history for a number of his projects as Governor, including his exploring beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains, his establishing what was perhaps the first...
- an American Lieutenant-Colonel and Lieutenant Governor of Virginia
- Heinz Tietjen
Heinz Tietjen was a German conductor and music producer born in Tangier, Morocco. At age twenty-three, he held the position of producer at the Opera House in Trier and was appointed its director in 1907, holding the dual roles until 1922...
- a German music composer
- Ángel Vázquez - a writer in Spanish.
- Abderrahmane Youssoufi
Abderrahmane Youssoufi is a Moroccan politician who served as the Prime Minister of Morocco from 1998 to 2002.-Early life:...
- a former socialist prime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
of Morocco
- Angelina Lamberth (Vela Torrisco) - settled in U.S., First Female Deputy Sheriff, Sarasota FL
People who settled or sojourned in Tangier
- Lancelot Addison
Reverend Lancelot Addison was born at Crosby Ravensworth in Westmorland. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford.Rev...
- an English chaplainA chaplain is typically a priest, pastor, ordained deacon, rabbi, imam or other member of the clergy serving a group of people who are not organised as a mission or church, or who are unable to attend church for various reasons; such as health, confinement, or military or civil duties; lay...
and the author of West Barbary, or a Short Narrative of the Revolutions of the Kingdoms of Fex and Morocco (1671)
- José Luis Alcaine
José Luis Alcaine is a Spanish born cinematographer. He was educated in Tangier's French Lycee Regnault and in the Spanish Institute. He was the first cinematographer to use fluorescent tube as "key" lighting in the 1970s...
- a Spanish-born cinematographerA cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
- Bill Bird
William Augustus Bird was an American journalist, now remembered for his hobby, the Three Mountains Press, a small press he ran while in Paris in the 1920s for the Consolidated Press Association...
- an American journalist and the founder of Tangier Gazette
- Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
- an American writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
and composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
. Died in Tangier
- Joseph McPhillips III - an American theater director and the headmaster of The American School of Tangier
-Introduction:The American School of Tangier is an independent private school located at 149, Rue Christophe Colomb, Tangier, Morocco. The school offers courses from prekindergarten to the 12th grade.-History:...
. Died in Tangier
- Jane Bowles
Jane Bowles, born Jane Sydney Auer , was an American writer and playwright.-Early life:Born into a Jewish family in New York, Jane Bowles spent her childhood in Woodmere, New York, on Long Island...
- an American writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
. Wife of Paul Bowles
- William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painter and spoken word performer.Much of Burroughs's work is semi-autobiographical, drawn from his experiences as an opiate addict, a condition that marked the last fifty years of his life...
- an American novelist, essayist, social critic, painterPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
and spoken wordSpoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. The category of spoken-word that is often done with a musical background is performance poetry...
performer
- Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote , born Truman Streckfus Persons, was an American writer, many of whose short stories, novels, plays, and nonfiction are recognized literary classics, including the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood , which he labeled a "nonfiction novel"...
- an American novelist and writer
- João de Castro
Dom João de Castro was a Portuguese naval officer and fourth viceroy of Portuguese India. He was called Castro Forte by poet Luís de Camões. Castro was the son of Álvaro de Castro, civil governor of Lisbon...
- a Portuguese naval officer and fourth viceroyA viceroy is a royal official who runs a country or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. His province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty. The relative...
of the Portuguese Indies
- Ira Cohen
Ira Cohen is an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker born in New York City to deaf parents. During the 1960s, he traveled to Tangier, where he published the exorcism magazine GNAOUA. He also published The Hashish Cookbook under the name of Panama Rose...
- an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker; he published the magazine Gnaoua in Tangier
- Eugène Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school...
- a French RomanticRomanticism is a complex artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Western Europe, and gained strength during the Industrial Revolution...
painter
- Jim Ede
Harold Stanley Ede also known as Jim' Ede, was a British collector of art and friend to artists.Ede studied painting at Newlyn Art School between 1912 and 1914 when he was called up in World War I...
- a notable British art collector
- Malcolm Forbes
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes was publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B.C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes....
- the publisher of Forbes magazine
- Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet. Ginsberg is best known for the poem "Howl" , in which he celebrates fellow members of the Beat Generation and critiques what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in the United States.-Early life and family:Ginsberg was born into...
and Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
visited Burroughs, their fellow BeatThe Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired...
in Tangier
- Sean Gullette
Sean Gullette is a writer, actor, and filmmaker.-Biography:He was born in Boston and attended public schools and Harvard, where he acted in theater and films and directed plays....
- American actorAn actor or actress is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
- Brion Gysin
Brion Gysin was a painter, writer, sound poet, and performance artist born in Taplow, Buckinghamshire.He is best known for his discovery of the cut-up technique used by William S. Burroughs....
- a British writerA writer is anyone who creates a written work, though the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms.-Profession:...
and painterPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
- Mohamed Hamri
Mohamed Hamri commonly known as Hamri is a self-described Painter of Morocco. He was a Moroccan painter and author and one of the few Moroccans to participate in the Tangier Beat scene....
- a Moroccan painter, described as being the 'Picasso of Morocco'
- Friedrich von Holstein
Friedrich August von Holstein was a statesman of the German Empire and served as the head of the political department of the Foreign Office for over thirty years.-Biography:...
- a German statesman
- Barbara Hutton
Barbara Woolworth Hutton was an American socialite dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life...
- a wealthy American socialiteA socialite is a person who is known to be a part of fashionable high society because of their regular participation in social activities and fondness for spending a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained. Some socialites may choose to use their social skills and connections...
dubbed by the media as the "Poor Little Rich Girl" because of her troubled life
- Bernard-Henri Lévy
Bernard-Henri Lévy is a French Sephardi Jewish public intellectual, philosopher and journalist. Often referred to today, in France, simply as BHL, he was one of the leaders of the "Nouvelle Philosophie" movement in 1976.-Biography:Lévy was born to a Jewish family in Béni Saf, Algeria on 5...
- a wealthy French journalist and intellectual
- Gavin Lambert
Gavin Lambert was a British-born screenwriter, novelist and biographer who lived for part of his life in Hollywood...
- a British novelist and friend of Paul Bowles
- Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid, brilliant and original draughtsmanship. He was a master draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but excelled primarily as a painter. Matisse is regarded, with Picasso, as the greatest artist of the 20th century...
- a notable French painter
- Mohamed Mrabet
Mohammed Mrabet Moroccan author artist and storyteller of Berber heritage from the Beni Ouraaghil tribe in the Rifian Mountains. Mrabet is mostly known in the West through his association with Paul Bowles, William Burroughs and Tennessee Williams...
- a Moroccan storytellerStorytelling is the conveying of events in words, images, and sounds often by improvisation or embellishment. Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture and in every land as a means of entertainment, education, preservation of culture and in order to instill moral values...
- Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
- British playwright
- Ion Perdicaris
Ion Perdicaris was a Greek-American playboy who was the centre of a notable kidnapping known as the Perdicaris incident, which aroused international conflict in 1904.-Family life:...
- a U.S.-GreekGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
playboy who was the centre of the infamous Perdicaris incident, a kidnappingIn criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or asportation of a person against the person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
that aroused international conflict in 1904
- George John Pinwell
George John Pinwell , was a British watercolour painter.He was born at Wycombe, and educated at Heatherley's Academy. He belonged to the little group of watercolour painters which included Frederick Walker and Arthur Boyd Houghton, a group whose style was directly derived from the practice of...
- a British painterPainting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . In art, the term describes both the act and the result, which is called a painting. Paintings may have for their support such surfaces as walls, paper, canvas, wood, glass, lacquer, clay or concrete...
- Reichmann family
The Reichmann family is a family best known for controlling the Olympia and York business empire.The Reichmann's were originally from the small shtetl of Beled, Hungary but the ambitious Samuel Reichmann moved them to Vienna in 1928 where he became a successful merchant. He and his wife Renée had...
(including Edward below) - a rich immigrant Jewish family from Austro-Hungary
- Edward Reichmann
Edward Reichmann was the oldest of the five Reichmann brothers, famed for their global business empire.Edward was born to Samuel Reichmann a wealthy Vienna merchant of Hungarian origin. The family was lucky to escape Austria before the Nazi invasion leaving the country on the morning of Anschluss...
- an Austro-Hungarian businessman
- David Roberts
David Roberts RA was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for a prolific series of detailed prints of Egypt and the Near East that he produced during the 1840s from sketches he made during long tours of the region . This work, and his large oil paintings of similar subjects, made him a...
- a Scottish painter
- Yves Saint-Laurent (designer) - a French fashion designer
- J. Slauerhoff
Jan Jacob Slauerhoff, who published as J. Slauerhoff, was a Dutch poet and novelist. He is considered one of the most important Dutch language writers.-Youth:...
- a Dutch poet and novelist
- Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams was a British comic actor, star of 26 Carry On films and radio comedies with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne, as well as being a witty raconteur.-Life and career:...
- a British humourist
- Perla Thompson - immigrant to the United States
People who died in Tangier
- Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan berber scholar and traveller who is known for the account of his travels and excursions called the Rihla...
- 14th century traveller and diarist - was born in Tangier in 1304 and is said to have been buried there in 1368.
- Mohamed Choukri
Mohamed Choukri , was a Moroccan author who is best known for his autobiography For Bread Alone , which was described by the American playwright Tennessee Williams as 'A true document of human desperation, shattering in its impact.Choukri was born in 1935, in Ayt Chiker, a small village in the Rif...
- a Moroccan novelist. (Died in RabatRabat , population 2 million , is the capital of the Kingdom of Morocco. It is also the capital of the Rabat-Salé-Zemmour-Zaer region....
, buried in the Marshan, TangierTangier or Tangiers [
pronounce] is a city of northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000...
)
- George Elliott
George Elliott was the illegitimate son of Richard Eliot , the wayward second son of Sir John Eliot, and Catherine Killigrew . George's grandson Granville Elliott spent considerable time and effort trying to prove that Richard had in fact married Catherine Killigrew, but was never able to prove...
- probably the illegitimate son of Richard EliotRichard Eliot was the wayward second son of Sir John Eliot and Rhadigund Geddy ....
. He was the "Chirurgeon to the Earl of Teviot's Regiment at Tangier"
- George Fleetwood
George Fleetwood was an English Major-General and one of the Regicides of King Charles I of England.Fleetwood was M.P. for Buckinghamshire in the Long Parliament, 1640; one of the commissioners for trial of Charles I, 1648-9; member of last Commonwealth Council of State and M.P...
- One of the regicides of Charles I. Brought to trial and sentenced to imprisonment in the Tower of LondonHer Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic fortress and scheduled monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames...
. He may have been transported to Tangier.
- Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas was a Hungarian-born actor.Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917...
- a HungarianHungary , in English officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. Its capital is Budapest. Hungary is a member of OECD, NATO, EU, V4 and is a Schengen state...
actor.
- John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton
John Middleton, 1st Earl of Middleton was a Scottish army officer, who belonged to a Kincardineshire family which had held lands at Middleton since the 12th century....
- a commander-in-chief of the troops in Scotland under the reign of Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
.
- Paul Bowles
Paul Frederic Bowles was an American expatriate composer, author, and translator.Following a cultured middle-class upbringing in New York City, during which he displayed a talent for music and writing, Bowles pursued his education at the University of Virginia before making various trips to Paris...
- American novelist and musician.
Trivia
- One of the Lathyrus tingitanus
Lathyrus is a genus of flowering plant species known as sweet peas and vetchlings. Lathyrus is in the legume family Fabaceae and contains approximately 160 species. They are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 species in North America, 78 in Asia, 24 in...
plants is called Tangier Pea.
- As a great collector of toy soldiers
A toy soldier is a miniature figurine that represents a soldier, but the term may also refer to:In film and television:*Toy Soldiers , an action/drama film in which terrorists take a school hostage...
, the American billionaire and publisher of Forbes magazine Malcolm ForbesMalcolm Stevenson Forbes was publisher of Forbes magazine, founded by his father B.C. Forbes and today run by his son Steve Forbes....
brought together a total of 115,000 models in what was the Forbes Museum of TangierForbes Museum of Tangier was a museum founded by the American billionaire and publisher of Forbes magazine, Malcolm Forbes, in Tangier, Morocco....
. These figures re-enacted the major battles of history; from WaterlooIn the Battle of Waterloo forces of the French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte and Michel Ney were defeated by those of the Seventh Coalition, including an Anglo-Allied army under the command of the Duke of Wellington and a Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von Blücher...
to Dien Bien PhûThe Battle of Dien Bien Phu was the climactic confrontation of the First Indochina War between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps and Viet Minh communist revolutionaries. The battle occurred between March and May 1954 and culminated in a comprehensive French defeat that...
, realistically recreated with lighting and sound effects. Entire armies stand on guard in the showcases, while in the garden, 600 statuettes bear silent homage to the Battle of Three Kings. The museum was closed after the death of Malcolm Forbes and is now used by the Moroccan government as a private residence for visiting dignitaries.
- One of the inherited disorders of bloodstream is called the Tangier disease
Tangier disease is a rare inherited disorder characterized by a severe reduction in the amount of high density lipoprotein , often referred to as "good cholesterol," in the bloodstream....
, albeit named for Tangier IslandTangier Island is an island in lower Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, in the United States.Tangier Island is a part of Accomack County in eastern Virginia. It lies in a part of the Chesapeake Bay called the Lower Eastern Shore. It actually is made up of many small islands divided by marshes and small...
, which was named for Tangier.
- The name tangerine
The tangerine is an orange-coloured citrus fruit. It is a variety of the Mandarin orange . Tangerines are smaller than most oranges, and the skin of some varieties will peel off more easily...
comes from Tangier from which the first tangerines were shipped to Europe. The adjective tangerine, "from Tangier", was already an English word (first recorded in 1710).
- The poem called "Herb's Herbs" of unknown origin describes a capitonym
A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning when it is capitalized, and usually applies to capitalization due to proper nouns or eponyms. It is a portmanteau of the word capital with the suffix -onym. A capitonym is a form of homograph and — when the two forms are pronounced differently — also...
:
-
- A herb store owner, name of Herb, Moved to a rainier Mount Rainier.
- It would have been so nice in Nice, And even tangier in Tangier.
- Tangier has an antipodean neighbour in Whangarei
Te Hihi to airport|-| bgcolor="#FFCCBB" | Territorial
Authority| bgcolor="#FFEEDD" | Name || Whangarei District Council|-| bgcolor="#FFCCBB" | Regional
Council| bgcolor="#FFEEDD" | Name || Northland Regional Council|-|}...
, New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
Events
- Tanjazz
Tanjazz is an international jazz festival held annually in Tangier, Morocco since the year 2000.The city of Tangier is currently experiencing rapid development as tourism goals...
- An annual international JazzJazz is a musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
festival.
- Festival National du Film - An annual Moroccan film festival (8th edition in 2006).
- Le Festival International de Théâtre Amateur - An international amateur theater festival.
Landmarks
- American Legation
The American Legation, located at 8 Zankat America in the old city of Tangier, Kingdom of Morocco, commemorates the historic cultural and diplomatic relations between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco....
- Church of Saint Andrew
The Church of Saint Andrew, is an Anglican church consecrated in 1905.-History:In 1880, Hassan I of Morocco donated land to the British community in order to build a small Anglican church in Tangier...
- Dar El oued Makhazen
Town twinning
FaroFaro is a city in the Faro Municipality in southern Portugal. The city proper has 41,934 inhabitants and the entire municipality has 58,305. It is the seat of the district of Faro and capital of the Algarve region. The Algarve and Faro district cover the same territory.-History:The Ria Formosa...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
(since 1954)
CádizCádiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Cádiz Province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
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SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
LiègeLiège is a municipality and a city of Belgium. The term Liège or Liege may also refer to:* Liege, a party to the oath of allegiance in feudalism .* Liège Island, in the Antarctic...
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BelgiumThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
(since 2006)
MetzMetz is a city in the northeast of France, capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. It is located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers....
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FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
Moulins-People:*Jean-François-Auguste Moulin, a politician in the French Revolution.*Jean Moulin, a member of the French Resistance during World War II.-Places:*Moulin, a small settlement just outside Pitlochry, Scotland.Communes in France:...
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FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
DubaiDubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates . It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula. The Dubai Municipality is sometimes called Dubai state to distinguish it from the emirate...
,
United Arab EmiratesThe United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras...
PasadenaPasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States; and is a satellite city of Los Angeles. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the...
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CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
, United States of America
See also
- List of Colonial Heads of Tangier
- Mauretania Tingitana
Mauretania Tingitana was a Roman province located in northwestern Africa, coinciding roughly with the northern part of modern Morocco and Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The province extended from the northern peninsula, opposite Gibraltar, to Chellah and Volubilis to the south, and as far...
- List of cities in Morocco
- History of Morocco
The Capsian culture brought Morocco into the Neolithic about 8000 BC, at a time when the Maghreb was less arid than it is today. The Berber language probably was formed at roughly the same time as agriculture , and was developed by the existing population and adopted the immigrants who arrived later...
External links