As mentioned above, Tangier is a geographically unique city, not only in Morocco but also in Africa as a whole, because it is located in the northwest corner of the whole of Africa, at the intersection of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, she is separated from Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar, a straight-line distance of only about 30 kilometers, as long as the weather is clear, standing on the Mediterranean side of Tangier, you can see the peaks of Spain on the other side of the naked eye.
Across the Strait of Gibraltar, the peaks of Spain are clearly visible
Therefore, visiting Tangier is always inseparable from the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts. On the edge of the Mediterranean, we sit in the 100-year-old Café Hafa, where cheerful seagulls pass by and the sun sets, while we sip sweet Moroccan mint tea, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar and Spain on the other side.
Tangier also has an old medina. In Morocco and Tunisia to follow, there is a medina in almost every city. "Medina" has two meanings in a broad and narrow sense, one is a proper place name, together with Mecca and Jerusalem, it is the three holiest places in Islam, but when this word is not used as a proper noun in Arabic, it means "town" and "city", so the old cities preserved in the city are collectively called Medina.
Tangier's medina is located on a not-so-high hill on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. The next morning, the air had just been washed by the rain, making the city look particularly clean, bright and fresh.
On the vantage point of the northern part of the medina, there is a Tangier castle, and outside a vaulted gate of the castle, you stand on a platform facing the Mediterranean Sea, and the Strait of Gibraltar and the harbor seem to be at your feet.
Two of the most special places to visit in Tangier are the Cape Spartel Lighthouse and the African Cave.
The Cape Spatel Lighthouse is located at the entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, 12 kilometres west of Tangier, in the far northwest corner of the African continent, so it is an iconic lighthouse. Bounded by a lighthouse, it is bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar to the east and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. For this reason, it is also known as the "Horn of Africa".
This milky yellow lighthouse stands at the edge of the earth and the corner of the sea, and even if she unfortunately encounters a heavy rain when she arrives that day, she still stands out in the mist and mist. It is also because of her signature that it was chosen as the motif of the Moroccan currency of 200 dirhams.
Cape Spartel lighthouse on the Moroccan AED 200 banknote
The "African Cave" is even more magical. It is a cave on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and when you enter the depths of the dark cave, you suddenly see a cave entrance, outside the cave is the vast Atlantic Ocean, the outline of the cave is similar to the territory of the African continent, and even the island of Madagascar is not absent.
If you flip the photo taken from the inside of the cave to the outside of the cave in parallel, the outline of the cave coincides with the outline of the map.
The "Hole of Africa" and the map of Africa
The most amazing thing is that it is not a man-made axe, but a natural formation formed by the waves hitting the rock for thousands of years, which makes people can't help but marvel at the magic of nature.
With this end of our trip in Morocco, we will return to Casablanca, the first stop of our trip to North Africa, along the Atlantic Ocean, where we will stop in the Atlantic seaside town of Asirah. There we tasted paella with a Mediterranean twist and visited the old medina again.
Influenced by Arabian and Mediterranean cultures, the tone of the old city is white and blue.
Standing on the castle's observation deck jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, the air seems to be filled with the smell of the sea.
Via Casablanca, we will fly to Tunis City for the second leg of our journey to Africa.
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I'm @云淡风 to talk about wind and clouds gently, talking about the world here, there is no theme; Pulling east and west, rambling, but all have feelings, and strive to have something to say