American Legation (Tangier)

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The seal of the United States on the entrance to the legation
Reception room with historical furniture
Legation courtyard

The American Legation is a building in the medina of the city of Tangier in Morocco . It was the first official building the United States acquired abroad and housed the US diplomatic mission in Morocco for 140 years, from 1821 to 1961 . The building is also symbolic of the Moroccan-American Treaty of Friendship of 1783, the longest unbroken friendship treaty between the United States and another state. On January 8, 1981, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and at the end of 1982, the US Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt classified it as a National Historic Landmark . It was the first and so far only time that a building abroad was included in these lists. The classification is based on the long history of diplomatic missions at this location.

history

In December 1777, Sultan Mulai Muhammad was the first representative of a country to de facto recognize the USA after its declaration of independence. Only about 20 years later, George Washington opened a first diplomatic mission in Tangier to allow American citizens safe passage into the Mediterranean. In 1821, Sultan Mulai Sulaiman finally donated the building known as the American Legation to the United States. It is on rue d'Amérique in the southern medina. The building consists of natural stone masonry and adobe bricks , has two floors and is decorated in the Moorish style with lush stucco . Several rooms were added to it several times, and in 1920 several wings adjoining the street were added, giving it its present size.

During World War II , diplomats in the legation were involved in planning the November 1942 Allied invasion of North Africa known as Operation Torch . The film Casablanca provides a picture of the atmosphere in Tangier at that time, characterized by espionage and intrigue . After the successful invasion of North Africa, President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill met in Casablanca in January 1943 to discuss the future of the war. With the end of the Spanish-French protectorate in 1956, all diplomatic missions moved from Tangier to Rabat . The building was used as an educational institution for a while before being converted into a museum in 1976 . Today the building houses the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies (TALIM), which commemorates the cultural and diplomatic relations between the United States and Morocco. It also houses a museum and library as well as exhibition rooms with works by Paul Bowles .

Web links

Commons : American Legation (Tangier)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b cf. National Park Service: American Legation in the National Historic Landmarks Program, December 17, 1982 (accessed July 14, 2011)
  2. ↑ cf. Moroccan American Center for Policy: US-Moroccan Relations ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 16, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.moroccanamericanpolicy.org
  3. ^ Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies: National Historic Landmark: Shining the Legation's Plaque , December 15, 2010
  4. ↑ cf. Historical Highlights ( Memento from February 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at www.morocconewsline.com, (accessed on July 14, 2011)
  5. ↑ cf. American Legation Museum - Art Retraces from the 17th Century at www.morocco.com, (accessed July 14, 2011)
  6. ↑ cf. Tangier American Legation: TALIM ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.morocconewsline.com archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , at www.morroconewsline.com (accessed on July 18, 2011)
  7. ↑ cf. The Authorized Paul Bowles Web Site: The Paul Bowles Wing , at www.paulbowles.org (accessed July 18, 2011)

Coordinates: 35 ° 47 ′ 3.5 ″  N , 5 ° 48 ′ 39.1 ″  W.