{{Short description|Historic building in Tangier, Morocco}} thumb|Front view of the Mendoubia, 2022 thumb|Interior hall of the Mendoubia, 2022
The '''Mendoubia''' or '''Mandubiyya''' ({{langx|ar|المندوبية}}, {{langx|es|Mendubía}}) refers to the former ceremonial mansion of the Mendoub, the representative of the Sultan of Morocco in the Tangier International Zone from 1924 to 1956 (with interruption during World War II). It now houses the commercial court of Tangier and a memorial museum.
==History== [[File:Baedeker's Spain and Portugal- Tangier (1901).jpg|thumb|Baedeker map of Tangier in 1901, showing the German Legation (left) as a rare building outside of the walled Medina]] [[File:Straatbeeld in Tanger, Bestanddeelnr 252-1809.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the Mendoubia on the Grand Socco square, in 1935]]
In the early 19th century, the consul of Sweden in Tangier acquired a villa on the hill just outside the Medina.{{R|Garriga|page=243}} In 1872, the newly established German Empire decided to establish a consulate in Tangier and acquired the former Swedish legate's villa which it promptly remodeled and expanded, giving the building its current appearance.{{R|Garriga|page=428}} The first German consul-general, Friedrich von Gülich, arrived in 1873.<ref>{{cite conference |title=Del Tánger diplomático a la ciudad internacional |author=Bernabé López García |date=2015 |book-title=Caminos del Sur. Marruecos y el orientalismo peninsular |editor=Jordi Carbonell |publisher=IEMed |location=Barcelona |url=https://www.academia.edu/15361966}}</ref>{{rp|78}} In the late 19th century, it was the only European consulate outside of the walls of the Medina quarter.{{R|Garriga|page=332}}
That German legation was the site of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s address on {{date|1905/03/31}}, supporting Moroccan independence and criticizing France’s encroachments, which triggered the First Moroccan Crisis.<ref>{{cite news |author=Chris Trueman |title=The First Moroccan Crisis |website=The History Learning Site |date={{date|2015/03/31}} |url= https://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-one/causes-of-world-war-one/the-first-moroccan-crisis/}}</ref> Less than a decade later, the German consul was expelled and expropriated by the French authorities in August 1914, at the outset of World War I.<ref>{{cite book |title=Aux vents des puissances |author=Jean-Marc Delaunay |publisher=Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle |date=2008 |page=98}}</ref>
In January 1920, the property was repurposed as ceremonial mansion of the Naib, the sultan's representative to the diplomatic corps in Tangier.<ref>{{cite news |journal=L'Illustration |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6upSAAAAYAAJ |date=January 1920 |title=L'exécution du traité de paix au Maroc }}</ref> From the mid-1920s, the governance of the Tangier International Zone entrusted the affairs of the Muslim and Jewish communities to a personal representative of the Sultan of Morocco known as the Mendoub, who replaced the Naib. The building thus became known as the Mendoubia.
During World War II, Tangier fell under Spanish military administration. On {{date|1941/03/16}}, the Spanish authorities terminated the mandate of the Mendoub, who subsequently left the city and relocated to Rabat.<ref>{{cite web |website=UK Parliament |title=Tangier, Volume 370: debated on Wednesday 26 March 1941 |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/1941-03-26/debates/3b078f76-bb6e-4aef-a5a9-5578d1cad0b5/Tangier}}</ref> The next day, diplomat {{ill|Herbert Conrad Nöhring|de}} took possession of the building as Nazi Germany's consul.<ref>{{cite web |website=The Documentation Center of North African Jews during World War 2 |title=British Memorandum of March 24, 1941 |url=https://northafricanjews-ww2.org.il/sites/default/files/ybz_pdf/fo%20371.26893.PDF}}</ref> The German consulate remained there until {{date|1944/05/23}}, when the Spanish authorities, under Allied pressure, forced it to leave.<ref>{{cite web |website=UK Parliament |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1944/may/24/tangier-german-officials |title=Tangier (German officials) HC Deb 24 May 1944 vol 400 cc717-8}}</ref> Mendoub Muhammad at-Tazi returned on board the French cruiser Duguay-Trouin on {{date|1945/10/11}}.
On {{date|1947/04/09}}, Mohammed V gave a landmark address on Moroccan sovereignty in the Mendoubia's gardens, which (together with another address given the next day at the Grand Mosque of Tangier<ref>{{cite web |website=Morocco World News |title=Morocco Commemorates Sultan Mohammed V's 'Historic Visits' to Tangier and Tetouan |author=Safaa Kasraoui |date={{date|2018/04/10}} |url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2018/04/244198/morocco-sultan-mohammed-vs-tangier-tetouan}}</ref>) became known as the Tangier Speech. After Moroccan independence in 1956, the nearby Grand Socco was later renamed {{lang|fr|Place du 9 avril}} to commemorate that event.
Following the termination of the Mendoub’s office, the palace was repurposed to become the city's commercial court ({{langx|fr|tribunal de commerce}}). In the early 21st century, the main building was transformed into a memorial museum of resistance and liberation of Morocco ({{langx|fr|Espace de la Mémoire historique de la résistance et de la libération à Tanger}}),<ref>{{cite web |website=The Direction of Your Dreams |title=Museum of the Resistance-Tanger |date={{date|2018/05/11}} |url=https://directionofyourdream.com/museum-of-the-resistance-tanger/ }}</ref> also known as Museum of the Tangier Speech ({{langx|fr|Musée du discours du 9 avril}}).<ref>{{cite web |website=Aujourd'hui Le Maroc |title=Tanger : La Mandoubia : Prestigieux symbole historique de la ville du détroit |date={{date|2007/10/23}} |url=https://aujourdhui.ma/regions/tanger-la-mandoubia-prestigieux-symbole-historique-de-la-ville-du-detroit-52508 }}</ref> The commercial court remains located in the same complex.
==Park== thumb|Burial monuments in the Mendoubia Park at dusk
Cemeteries were established on the Mendoubia's grounds in the 19th century, remaining in use there until 1911:<ref name=Garriga>{{citation |title=La transformación de la ciudad de Tánger durante el Periodo Diplomático (1777-1912) : Arquitectura y Urbanismo |author=Jordi Mas Garriga |date=2019 |url=https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/668965#page=1 |publisher=Universitat Rovira i Virgili |location=Tarragona}}</ref>{{rp|246}} a Christian / European burial ground to the north, and larger Muslim grounds to the west. In the late 2000s, Tangier governor Mohamed Hassad had these cemeteries replaced with a public park,<ref>{{cite web |website=El País |author=Juan Ramón Roca |date=19 August 2018 |title=Tánger, regreso al futuro |url=https://elpais.com/elpais/2018/08/13/eps/1534161073_985363.html}}</ref> while retaining a number of Christian funeral monuments on the northern side, and a monument that features the full text of the Tangier Speech. The grounds also include a large banyan tree, said to be 800 years old.
==See also== * Mendoub's Residence in the Marshan neighborhood of Tangier * Marshan Palace, Tangier in the former building of the Tangier International Zone's Legislative Assembly, which was chaired by the Mendoub * Royal Palace of Tétouan, former seat of the ''Khalifa'' who had similar duties in the Spanish protectorate in Morocco as the Mendoub in Tangier
==Notes== {{reflist}}
Category:Palaces in Morocco Category:Buildings and structures in Tangier Category:Spanish North Africa Category:Tourist attractions in Tangier {{Palaces in Morocco}}
{{coord missing|Morocco}}{{Morocco-struct-stub}}