History History

The Phoenicians from what is now Syria explored the Mediterranean and chose the Bay of Tangiers as their final trading post on the doorstep of the Atlantic Ocean. The Carthaginians were the first to cross the Strait of Gibraltar and sail along the African coast. They made Tangier an essential port of call.

The Romans take over the Byzantine Empire. Tangier reverted to Mauritania, a Roman ally in the Punic Wars. The city became known as Tingis. It was a "free city", self-governing and dependent on the Emperor's authority. When King Ptolemy of Mauretania died, the Roman Emperor Claudius annexed the kingdom to his empire. Tingis became the capital of Mauritania Tingitana, which extended as far as Meknes to the south and the Algerian border to the east. A Comet, a kind of military governor, was appointed to Tingis to deal with the disintegration of the Roman Empire. Comrade Boniface brought the Vandals to Tingis to defend it against a probable war with Galla Placidia, which in the end did not take place. The Vandals took the city and Mauritania Tingitana.

The Visigoths drive out the Vandals and take over northern Morocco. They faced Arab pressure from the Middle East. In 682, Uqba ibn Nafi chased Julien de Tangitaine into the Atlas Mountains.

Tangier succumbed to Musa Ibn Nusayr's siege and passed into the hands of the Umayyad caliphate. It served as a bridgehead for the Arabs to invade Spain and became the capital of the Maghreb al-Aqsa district. The Berbers were forcibly converted to Islam and enslaved. Refusing to submit, Maysara al-Mathgari led a revolt from Tangiers. It quickly spread to the Maghreb and Andalusia. The Umayyads succeeded in containing the revolt, but had to abandon western Maghreb. A period of chaos ensued, and the region was torn apart by local chieftaincies.

Shiite leader Idris, a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, lands in Tangier. He moved south, forged alliances with the Berber chief of the Awerba tribe and returned to seize the city. He is considered the founder of Morocco.

Caliph Abdullah al-Madhi finances the Magrahoua Berber tribe to seize the towns of northern Morocco for the Umayyads of Cordoba. Melilla fell first, followed by Ceuta and Tangier. Over the following centuries, Tangier passed into the hands of successive Berber dynasties: Almoravids, Almohads, Marinids. The city struggled to achieve stability.

The Portuguese seized Ceuta in retaliation for its piratical actions. They stepped up their campaigns to inflict the same fate on Tangier. The years 1437, 1458 and 1464 ended in failure. It wasn't until 1471 that they finally succeeded in taking the city. They transformed it by restoring its ramparts, erecting European-style buildings and converting the mosque into a cathedral. Tangier became the seat of the Portuguese colonial domain in Morocco.

The kingdoms of Spain and Portugal merge their crowns, and all Portuguese possessions fall under the control of the Habsburgs of Spain. The city is included in the dowry of the Portuguese princess Catherine de Bragance at the time of her marriage to King Charles II of England.

Despite their peaceful takeover, the English sacked Tangier and drove out the Portuguese. They reinforced the city's defenses and developed the port by building a breakwater. The Tangier Regiment, a garrison of 3,000 men, fiercely defended this new possession of the Crown against the repeated attacks of Raïs Khalid Ghaïlan. Faced with a stalemate, Sultan Moulay Ismaïl laid siege to the city. The exhausted British abandoned Tangier, leaving only ruins behind them. They undermined the fortifications and the breakwater before leaving. The city's population dwindled to just 700.

Like all his predecessors, Moulay Ismaïl set about reinforcing Tangier's ramparts. He also built the Dar al Makhzen palace and the Great Mosque. The city suffered from succession disputes between sultans. Poorly administered, Tangier declined, but had found peace. It wasn't until 1775 and the investment of the Tetouanese in international trade that Tangier regained a semblance of economic dynamism.

On March 5, 1786, Sultan Mohammed ben Abdallah offered the Dutch consul a house in Tangier. The same year, freedom of trade in the port was decreed. One after another, the Western powers sent diplomatic representations. France transferred its consulate from Rabat to Tangier in 1795; the United States sent its first representative in 1797. A year later, a plague epidemic broke out, and the European countries set up a sanitary council, recognized by the Moroccan government. This was the first foreign interference in the city's administration.

France strengthens its presence in North Africa and Morocco. In 1832, it sent an embassy to travel from Tangiers to Meknes. The painter Eugène Delacroix was part of the trip. In 1844, it bombarded Tangier in retaliation for Morocco's overly tolerant attitude towards the Algerian emir Abd el-Kader. The Moroccans capitulated to the delineation of the border with Algeria and declared Abd el-Kader an outlaw.

Tangier became the diplomatic headquarters of all the European powers, which set up embassies and consulates here. They developed postal services, installed the telegraph and built the Cap Spartel lighthouse. The beginning of the ^20th century marked a decisive turning point in the city's administration. In 1906, the Algeciras conference placed Morocco under international observation. The country escaped colonization, but not control. Six years later, the Treaty of Fez established the French protectorate over Morocco and demarcated the borders with the Spanish colonies. Tangier was placed under Spanish protection. In 1923, an international conference placed Tangier under the joint governance of France, Spain and Great Britain. The Tangier International Zone (ZIT) covers 373 km² around the city.

The members of the Tangier Protectorate sign an agreement restoring sovereignty to the city, which joins a newly independent Morocco. Foreigners leave the city, weakening its economy.

At the turn of the new century, the kingdom decided on a massive plan to modernize the city. The Tangier-Med project was launched, making it the largest port in Africa. It was accompanied by the creation of a free zone attracting hundreds of international industrialists. Goods are manufactured in the free zone and then exported to Europe. A new railway station was inaugurated in the city in 2003 to accommodate the TGV high-speed train. In 2018, King Mohamed VI inaugurated Tanja Marina Bay, a restructuring plan including the fishing port, the corniche and Tangier's new mosque.