Casablanca

In 2024 the municipality of Casablanca had exactly 3,215,935 inhabitants and the prefecture 3,218,036.¹ The overview of the Haut-Commissariat au Plan gives the city around 3.24 million, putting it first among the country's seven large cities.² With 7,688,967 inhabitants the Casablanca-Settat region is the most populous in Morocco; 20.9 per cent of the population live here.³

King Hassan II laid the foundation stone of the Hassan II Mosque on 11 July 1986, and it was inaugurated on 30 August 1993, the Prophet's birthday.⁴ It was designed by the practice of the French architect Michel Pinseau together with Moroccan craftsmen and the construction company Bouygues; the building was paid for by a nationwide fundraising campaign.⁵ Because the sea beats against the north and west sides, special protective works were needed there.⁶

The prayer hall is 200 metres long and 100 metres wide and holds 25,000 worshippers; two galleries provide room for 5,000 women.⁷ Its roof can be opened, and the floor of marble, granite and travertine is heated.⁸ The esplanade around the mosque covers 30,000 square metres and can hold up to 80,000 people.⁹

According to the foundation, the minaret is 200 metres high, 190.50 metres above the floor of the prayer hall; its base covers 625 square metres.¹⁰ It is clad in travertine and green glass mosaic; at the top sits a 15.5-metre finial with three gilded spheres, from which a laser beam reaches 30 kilometres in the direction of Mecca.¹¹

3,300 Moroccan craftsmen worked on the mosque.¹² Among the 1,530 woodworkers were 854 masters, among the 1,600 plaster carvers 80 and among the 170 zellige craftsmen 100.¹³ The hall is decorated with ceilings and domes of carved and painted wood, plaster arcades, zellige wall panels and doors of titanium and brass.¹⁴

The Habous district was built from 1916 to plans by Henri Prost as a new quarter for the Muslim population, with a palace for the sultan; the land had been donated by the grain merchant Haïm Bendahan.¹⁵ Its best-known building, the Mahkama du Pacha, was built in 1941 and 1942; the Ministry of Habous and Islamic Affairs has its seat in the district.¹⁶

The former Sacré-Cœur church by the Parc de la Ligue Arabe was designed by Paul Tournon in the Art Deco style; it was built in 1930 and was never a cathedral.¹⁷ Its use as a church ended in 1956, and the building now serves as a cultural centre.¹⁸

In the old medina lies the Museum of Photography and Visual Arts, designed by Tadao Ando; it is his only building in Africa.¹⁹ The Villa Carl Ficke, built in the early 20th century in the neo-Moorish style for a German merchant, is now the museum of Casablanca's memory.²⁰

Since December 2012 Casablanca has had a tram, which now has four lines; since 1 March 2024 two busway lines with 24 kilometres and 42 stations have complemented the network.²¹ Together it serves 151 stations and is operated by RATP Dev Casablanca on behalf of Casa Transports.²²

Mohammed V airport lies in Nouaceur, 30 kilometres south of the city; it is designed for 14 million passengers a year and has two parallel runways of about 3.7 kilometres.²³ Terminal 2 was inaugurated in 2007.²⁴ From Casa Voyageurs station the Al Boraq runs via Rabat Agdal and Kenitra to Tangier, and there are also connections from there to Marrakesh, Berrechid, Settat and El Jadida.²⁵