Casablanca

The name “Casablanca” conjures up images of the classic studio film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as star-crossed lovers. Although memories of the past remain - bazaars, souks, ramparts around the Old Medina, and neighborhood mosques - these days, Casablanca reflects a nation making rapid progress into the modern world. Today’s Casablanca is Morocco’s largest, most cosmopolitan city and a fast-growing industrial and commercial center. Development historically has centered around the port, which since the 12th century has connected neighboring regions to Europe and beyond. A business capital of increasing importance, Casablanca has a history of importance in world affairs. It was in Casablanca, in 1943, that His late Majesty Mohammed V, along with His Majesty Hassan II, then the Crown Prince, welcomed the three great Heads of State, Churchill, Roosevelt, and De Gaulle, on the occasion of the Anfa Conference.
For lovers of architecture, Casablanca offers fine work by French architects who built their careers in Morocco. They created an architecture known as "Mooresque," or Arabo-Andalucian architecture, which fused Moroccan design with the latest French styles. The most compelling examples are the public buildings that surround Place Mohamed V. Equally fascinating is the New Medina, also known as the Habous Quarter, an attempt by French architects to create a 20th century casbah. Casablanca also contains some outstanding examples of International Style (high modern) and Art Deco architecture, including beautiful villas in the neighborhood of Moulay Youssef near the American Consulate.

The modern city center evokes a European character, with impressive wide avenues and skyscrapers in the characteristic white color of the city. Given the volume of construction in recent years, people visiting Casablanca as their first Moroccan city could easily end up confused: There are few things here confirming a visitor’s conception of traditional, exotic, “authentic” Morocco. If anything in Casablanca fits the Casablanca of Bergman and Bogart, it is the old city or medina. The old city area is small, but like the medina of all Moroccan cities, it serves as a market for local daily wares. The shrewd shopkeepers ensure that there are few bargains to be had here.

In this industrial metropolis, the people too are modern. Cell phones are ubiquitous and traditional Moroccan garb seems out of place among the natty suits and designer sunglasses. Modern locals prefer shopping in the malls and hypermarkets springing up in and around town and dining in the outstanding restaurants offering international cuisine or in the global faster food chains infiltrating the city. The Corniche district, skirting the shores of the Atlantic, is the place for those who need a thirst-quencher, a dip in the sea, or an evening of hot music at one of its top-class nightclubs.

Casablanca’s most impressive sight is also its most recent: the Hassan II Mosque. Completed by the late King Hassan II in the final years of his reign, the structure is visible from all over the city and is symbolically located at the westernmost point in the Muslim world. Dramatically perched over the Atlantic Ocean, it is a gem of religious architecture, subtly mixing Moroccan tradition with state-of-the-art technology like a sliding roof and under-floor heating. A team of international engineers led the construction, while the finest mosaic workers and other artisans contributed to the decoration. The largest mosque in the world outside of Mecca and the third largest religious monument in the world, its statistics are overwhelming: its minaret is over 60 stories high and The Basilica of St. Peter’s in Rome can fit inside its handcrafted marble walls. The mosque holds 20,000 worshipers and a staggering 100,000 when the courtyard is used for prayer. Despite the massive size, visitors to the mosque experience a great sense of tranquility.