Perdicaris Park

The park is about seventy hectares of introduced pine, eucalyptus, cypress and stone pine planted on a ridge above the sea, with paths and clearings, and locals call it Rmilat. It was the estate of Ion Perdicaris, a wealthy Greek-American who built a house here in the late nineteenth century and planted the grounds; in 1904 he was seized from it by Mulai Ahmed er Raisuli, a chieftain from the Jebala, in an abduction that became internationally famous and was later loosely dramatised in a film. The house is a ruin. What is there now is shaded walking with gaps in the trees looking down to the Atlantic and, on clear days, across the strait to Spain. It functions mainly as a place where people from Tangier come out to walk and picnic at weekends, which is the honest description; the interest is the air and the view rather than any facility.

History

The Greek-American Ion Hanford Perdicaris bought the estate, then called Aidonia, in the 1870s and built an eclectic villa in it. In 1930 the family sold it to Thami El Glaoui, after 1956 it became state property, renovation began in 2015, and the villa reopened as a heritage centre in early 2022 (Wikipedia, Perdicaris Park).

Highlights

• A planted ridge - seventy hectares of pine, eucalyptus and cypress above the sea.
• Gaps to the Atlantic - clearings looking down to the water and across to Spain.
• The ruined house - what is left of the estate that gave the park its name.
• A city's weekend walk - families out from Tangier rather than a visitor attraction.

When to go

Spring and autumn. Two to three hours. Weekday mornings are quiet.

Good to know

There are no facilities and paths are unmarked in places. Litter is a persistent problem at the picnic clearings. Weekends are crowded and parking is informal. The house is a ruin and not accessible.

Nearby

Cap Spartel and the Caves of Hercules are west; Tangier is east.

Key facts