Dar Mandubiya

Tangier, Morocco

On the north side of the Zocco Grande, now named Place 9 Avril 1947, to the west of Bab al-Fahs and rue d'Italie are the gates of the Mendoubia Palace.  It was constructed prior to 1905, at which time it is known that the German Legation was located there.  The large wooden doors on the square date to that period.  When Tangier was an international city, the structure was the residence of the Mendub, or the Sultan's representative to the International Commission that governed Tangier.  It was there that Sultan Muhammad V delivered his speech calling for independence on the 9 of April 1947 to crowds assembled in the Grand Socco.  For this reason the Grand Socco was renamed Place 9 Avril 1947, and a large marble monument in the Gardens no commemorates the speech.