Medina of Tangier (Old City)

About this place

The Medina of Tangier is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban centers in North Africa, with a history stretching back over 2,500 years to the 5th century BCE when Phoenician traders established a settlement they called Tingis at this strategic point where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic. The city became Carthaginian, then Roman — captured in 81 BCE by Quintus Sertorius and later elevated by Emperor Claudius in 42 CE to the status of a free city and capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Tingitana, with the grand name Tingis Colonia Julia Traducta. Under Roman rule, Tangier flourished as a major commercial hub, connected by roads to Volubilis and other imperial centers. After the fall of Rome, the city passed through Byzantine, Vandal, and Arab hands, becoming Tanger under Islamic rule in the 8th century. The Portuguese captured Tangier in 1471 and constructed the formidable stone ramparts and bastions that still encircle the medina today. In 1662, the Portuguese handed Tangier to the English as part of Catherine of Braganza's dowry to King Charles II, and the English expanded the port and fortifications before destroying much of their works and withdrawing in 1684. The medina's current layout reflects this layered history — Portuguese walls, English port foundations, Andalusian architecture from refugees fleeing the Iberian Peninsula, and the vibrant commercial energy that has made Tangier a crossroads of civilizations for millennia.