A façade of gleaming white walls, the Kasbah was once the residence of Sultan Moulay Ismail, built to concretize the hold of the Islamic dynasties over the region. Since its founding, it has been witness to invasions and celebrations, unrest and joyous mirth. Today, the museum serves to bring visitors on a trip through time, introducing the different faces of Tangier as seen by the Islamic dynasties, English invaders and ancestors of today’s Moroccans.

It doubles as a conservatory of Moroccan art, featuring embroidered Fez draperies and furniture, illuminated manuscripts and jewelry. The nude depictions pieced together with colored ceramic chips in the piece Voyage of Venus are quite unlike what one would expect but understandable, given their origins from the City of Volubilis in Rome. Tessellated patterns adorn the floors and arched ceilings carved in marble, the Arabic influences glaringly evident. Sculpted plaster white drenched in the yellow of incandescent lighting mark the life-size Carthaginian tomb located within the museum, the eerie cavernous chamber capable of leaving anyone on edge. If that’s the case, step out into the courtyard gardens for a breather where creepers and vines entangle to form curtains of green. A walk through the Kasbah is more than a just a tour but a roller coaster ride through the rise and fall of Tangier.