Tangier American Legation Institute

After the Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship signed in 1786 by the Sultan Mohammed III of the Alaouite dynasty, his son Sultan Moulay Suliman gave this building in 1821 as a gift to the U.S. As such, the Legation building became the first piece of property acquired abroad by the U.S. government.

The building was partly destroyed after the bombardment of Tangiers the 6 August 1844 by the French Navy, the French bombarded Tangier after by the refusal of Morocco to abandon its support to Algeria.

Collections

The museum has a research library and conference room, the library holds more than 8,000 books, most of them are in English and French, there is also an impressive collection of more than 100 rare and original antique maps of the Mediterranean region.

You can see at the library a rare copy of a view of Tangier drawn by Wenceslaus Hollar in 1668.