Mendoubia Gardens

The Mendoubia is a walled enclosure behind the Grand Socco, named for the mendoub, the sultan's representative in the international zone, whose residence stood here and is now a court building. The garden is a small formal park with lawns, paths and, above all, trees: a group of very large banyans, Ficus, with the aerial roots dropped and thickened into secondary trunks so that a single tree occupies a considerable area, and a dragon tree, Dracaena draco, which is a Macaronesian species and unusual this far east. The banyans are locally said to be several centuries old, which is repeated on signs and is not securely documented. It is free, it is quiet in the middle of a busy part of the city, and it is where people from Tangier sit in the afternoon. A monument and some old cannon stand on the higher ground.

What you actually see

• Banyans with secondary trunks - aerial roots thickened into supports, each tree covering ground.
• A dragon tree - a Macaronesian species, unusual on this coast.
• A walled quiet - a formal garden in the middle of the busiest part of Tangier.
• The mendoub's ground - the residence of the sultan's representative in the international zone.

When to go

Spring and autumn; afternoons. An hour.

Honest expectations

It is small - an hour is generous. The tree ages given on signs are tradition rather than record. The old residence is a working court and closed. Gates close in the evening.

Nearby

The Grand Socco is at the entrance; the medina is downhill from it.