Librairie des Colonnes

Historic literary bookshop on Boulevard Pasteur

A literary institution since 1949, the Librairie des Colonnes occupies a corner of Boulevard Pasteur in the ville nouvelle. The cream-and-blue Art Deco interior holds floor-to-ceiling stacks of French, Arabic, and English books — strong on North African literature, history, and the foreign writers who made Tangier their home. The shop was rescued from closure in 2010 by a consortium led by Pierre Bergé and reopened with the original fittings intact.

Readings, signings, and small literary events happen regularly in the upstairs room. Even visitors with no interest in buying books should put their head in to see the space. Open daily except Sunday afternoons.

Address: 54 Boulevard Pasteur, Tangier.

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A story
Opened in 1949 by the Belgian couple Yvonne and Robert Gérofi, the bookshop became the unofficial salon of the Tangier literary scene. Paul Bowles picked up his mail here for forty years; Jean Genet, Samuel Beckett, Marguerite Yourcenar, Tennessee Williams, and Mohamed Choukri were all regulars. Yourcenar dedicated her novel L'Œuvre au Noir partly to the shop.