Is the American Legation Museum in Tangier worth visiting?

The American Legation is one of the most unusual museums in Morocco. It sits inside the medina of Tangier, in a building that housed the United States diplomatic mission to Morocco from 1821. It was the first public property owned by the United States abroad, and it is the only US National Historic Landmark in a foreign country. The story behind it goes back further still: Morocco was among the first countries to recognise the independence of the United States, by a proclamation of the sultan in 1777.

After Morocco's independence the diplomatic capital moved to Rabat, and the building was eventually left empty. It was later restored, and today it is run as the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, a museum, cultural centre and research library. The building itself, an elaborate Moorish-style house of stuccoed masonry, is part of the pleasure of the visit.

Inside you will find paintings of Morocco, including works by the artists Marguerite McBey and Mohamed Hamri, and material on the long relationship between Morocco and the United States, alongside a research library. Since 2010 a wing of three rooms, with furniture, photographs and documents, has been devoted to Paul Bowles, the American writer and composer who lived in Tangier for decades, a draw for anyone interested in the city's literary history.

Allow about an hour, more if you enjoy reading the documents. It is a calm place to step out of the busy lanes of the medina, and it pairs well with a walk through the Petit Socco and up to the kasbah. Check locally for opening days and hours before you go, as the institute also hosts events and research.

It suits travellers who like their sightseeing with a story: visitors interested in diplomacy, art, books or the cosmopolitan history of Tangier will enjoy it most. If you have only a few hours in the city, the kasbah and the medina views over the Strait come first; with half a day or more, the Legation is a rewarding addition.

The museum sits in the lower part of the medina, so it is easy to reach on foot from the centre of town. Combine it with lunch in the medina and an afternoon at the kasbah for a full day that mixes history and the city's views.