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SPAIN

Casablanca

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

Saïdia

Rabat

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Zagora

CANARY ISLANDS

ALGERIA

Editorial

A city with the ocean on its doorstep

A city of the future

The Hassan II Mosque

Casablanca, a happening city

Experiencing the city

Activities in the city

Casablanca, seaside resort

The Casablanca region

Information and useful addresses

MAURITANIA

Editorial

Casablanca, an exhilarating megalopolis

The sun is scarcely above the horizon and Casablanca is already waking up. Little

red taxis play dodgems at the feet of the white city’s ultra-modern buildings.

There is no escaping the allure of its grandeur, its pure energy, and all of a

sudden we ourselves are imbued with the same heady dynamism.

Casablanca, economic heart of the Kingdom, lives at a frenetic pace. Business

and art go side by side here, often intermingling. It is here, above all, that tones

and trends are set.

Why is it that so many artists have found their inspiration in Casablanca?

Perhaps the contrasting curves of its Art Deco buildings are enough to cast

a spell over them. The richness of the city’s architectural heritage is sufficient

in itself to call forth the image of a city where time has no hold. Charged with

history yet resolutely turned towards the future, this most cosmopolitan of cities,

where every nationality is represented, parades its modernity for all to see.

Morocco’s economic nerve centre and keeper of a unique historical heritage,

Casablanca reveals all of its many faces to us.

In Casablanca, modern

buildings stand side

by side with Arab-An-

dalusian architecture

and Art Deco creations

from the 1920s

A city with the ocean on its doorstep

Aerial view of Casa-

blanca coastline

No historian has ever been able to fi-

nally determine who it was that foun-

ded the town of Anfa that was even-

tually to become Casablanca. Some

claim that it was founded in Roman

times, while others point to the Phoe-

nicians or the Zenete Berbers. Un-

der the aegis of the Merinid dynasty,

Anfa remained a small town open to

sea trade with foreign lands. It was

inhabited by sailors and pirates who

thought nothing of attacking passing

ships, and in 1468 the Portuguese in-

vaded it and razed it to the ground in

an effort to protect their trade. Un-

der the Alaouite dynasty, during the

reign of Sultan Sidi Mohammed Ben

Abdellah (1757-1790), the town rose

from the ashes and became “Dar Al

Baida” – “White House” or, in the

Spanish tongue, “Casa Blanca”. The

decision to build the Kingdom’s first

major modern port at Casablanca was

taken in 1912. During the Second

World War, the port was to take on

considerable strategic importance.

As the scene of the Anfa Conference

(14 to 24 January 1943), the city re-

ceived Winston Churchill, Franklin

Roosevelt and Charles de Gaulle along

with a host of diplomats – and diplo-

matic dealings are only a step away

from doing business! The region’s

economic development was spurred

onwards and upwards by the city’s

burgeoning port activity, tapping na-

tional and foreign investment and

giving birth to a modern metropolis

that has now become the Kingdom’s

economic capital.

Casablancan Art Deco in all its glory

Not to be missed out on

In Casablanca, every stone of every district

has a story to tell. As you make your way

through the city, you cross from one era to

another, increasingly persuaded that past

and present have here become one.

Facing the port, the Sqala is a fortified

bastion built in the 18th century by

Sultan Mohamed Ben Abdallah.

This bygone defensive post now

accommodates a restaurant, but the

“Moorish café” still has its ancient cannons

pointing out to sea. Make your way inside

the fortress and you will find a pleasant

Andalusian garden lined with trees, exotic

flora and mint-scented flowerbeds.

Near the port, just a stone’s throw

from ‘’Place des Nations’’, the medina

is the oldest part of the city.

It was destroyed by an earthquake in

1755, and has a more contemporary

feel to it than the medinas to be found

in other Moroccan towns, its atypical

style a mixture of Arabo-Muslim and

colonial architecture. Nonetheless, all

the authenticity of Moroccan tradition

lives on in its narrow little streets and

their tightly-packed rows of shops.

Walking through the city centre,

visitors cannot fail to be struck by the

legacy of the “Années Folles”. With

their buildings adorned with cupolas,

columns and sculpted balconies, the

1920s and 30s were a period of unique

artistic expression. Casablanca’s

neoclassical, art deco and Moorish

styles continue to attract and inspire

architects from all over the world.

A Casablanca street from the 1930s

The ‘’Café de la Scala’’, a former fortified

bastion now transformed into a haven of

peace where you can enjoy quenching your

thirst in the cool shade of its walls

A city of the future

The Habous district in the southeast

of the city was built in the 1920s. Its

architects, while remaining faithful to

traditional styles and customs, took

care to comply with the dictates of mo-

dern urban planning. A district with

a character all of its own, it is made

up of narrow streets, little squares and

stonework arcades, and accommo-

dates a multitude of bazaars and shops

selling traditional craftwork.

The Habous district

day, it is the head office of the Pre-

fecture of Mechouar. The decoration

of its courtyards and sixty-four rooms

makes full use of the many riches of

Moroccan art, and is reminiscent of

history’s great Arabo-Andalusian pa-

laces.

The port has continued to develop

ever since its creation in 1907. Com-

prising a commercial port, a shipyard

and a yachting harbour equipped with

boarding quays for tourist ferries and

liners, Morocco’s leading port conti-

nues to be an essential factor in the

white city’s economic growth.

The Mahkama, a fine building com-

pleted in 1952, was once the city’s

courthouse as well as acting as the

venue for the Pasha’s receptions. To-

The white city’s new coast road – good living on the shores of the ocean

Casablanca, between business and pleasure

Casablanca is a rapidly expanding bu-

siness city provided with a full range

of modern infrastructures. No less

than 60% of Morocco’s cutting-edge

companies and most of its banks are

headquartered there and its new, ul-

tra-modern Mohammed V Airport is

a large-scale aviation hub. Being so

close to Europe, the city attracts in-

creasing numbers of companies and is

the venue for a whole range of semi-

nars and congresses all year round. A

major business centre and spacious fa-

cilities have been designed to accom-

modate events of whatever magnitude.

Whether you come on holiday or on

business, Casablanca is a city to enjoy,

with no lack of fine hotels to choose

from or entertainment to sample.

A wide range of leisure activities are on

offer, including golf and water sports.

Along the Corniche (coast road), life is

lived to the full, with an endless variety

of activities on tap day and night – cafes,

restaurants, ice-cream parlours, luxury

hotels, shopping malls, playgrounds,

shows, discos, cinemas, water-sports

clubs and much more besides. The de-

velopment of leisure activities is a top

priority for the city, which will soon be

boasting a marina set in the heart of a

complex combining luxury hotels, of-

fices and apartments. Not far off, in

the Anfa district - the “Moroccan Be-

verly Hills” - you can acquaint yourself

with the city’s classiest neighbourhood

and the extraordinarily varied architec-

ture of its superb villas.

Casablanca’s port

The Twin Center

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