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Tangier
Welcome to Tangier
Overlooking the straights of Gibraltar, Tangier is the entrance to Morocco from Spain. Tangier is tinged with faded grandeur from its glory days when it was a thriving port town, though its reputation as the 'Pearl of the Mediterranean' has diminished. Though the beautiful rolling hills and long sandy beaches still surround it, Tangier is now better known for its overcrowded, run down streets and narrow maze of alleyways that make getting lost inevitable. Still, Tangier is an exotic city, seeped in rich history and culture, and worth a visit.
Tangier History
Tangier is one of the oldest cities in Morocco, dating back to the 5th century B.C. when Phoenician traders and Berbers founded the city. It was taken over by the Romans in the 1st century B.C., and then by the Byzantine empire a century later. The Arabs captured Tangier a few hundred years later, and different sects fought over the city for nearly one thousand years. In the 15th century A.D., the Portuguese took control of the city for nearly two hundred years until they gave it to Charles II of England as part of the dowry for Catherine of Braganza. In two decades they lost the city to Morocco's Sultan Moulay Ismail, though they destroyed the city before withdrawing back to England. In the 1920s Tangier was declared an international zone by Spanish, France, & England, and remained so until Morocco's independence in 1956.